


Lonely Hearts under the Moon

by CastielAndDean



Series: KakaObi Hogwarts AU [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Animagus, Best Friends, Books, Christmas at Hogwarts, Dark Past, Duelling, First Kiss, First Love, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, Hurt/Comfort, Icha Icha Paradise, KakaObi, Kakashi and Obito in Hogwarts, Lonely Hatake Kakashi, Lonely Obito Uchiha, M/M, Naruto Hogwarts AU, Naruto characters in Hogwarts, O.W.L.s | Ordinary Wizarding Levels, Quidditch, Ravenclaw, Room of Requirement, Slow Burn, Slow Dancing, Snowball Fight, Winter in Hogwarts, boyslove
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielAndDean/pseuds/CastielAndDean
Summary: [Part 1 of my KakaObi Hogwarts AU]Kakashi's fifth year in Hogwarts started and everything seems to be the same as always. But this year, he accidentally keeps bumping into Obito Uchiha, the student everyone knows as 'The Boy who survived'. Both did not plan to get to know each other better, but they still do. Whenever he's with Obito, Kakashi is experiencing new feelings he hadn't felt before.But there's something rolling up in the distance. A dark storm is coming, and neither Kakashi nor Obito know that their lives will change completely soon.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito
Series: KakaObi Hogwarts AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050221
Comments: 13
Kudos: 133





	1. The Boy Who Survived

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: [【带卡】月下孤心](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29028654) by [Saurry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saurry/pseuds/Saurry)



> Hello everyone. Please make sure to read this before you start reading the fanfic, it's important to understand it better.
> 
> This fanfiction is divided into three parts.  
> You are currently starting to read the FIRST part: 'Lonely Hearts under the Moon'.  
> Part 2 is called 'Tears and Scars in the Darkness': https://archiveofourown.org/works/28360695  
> Part 3 is called 'Lightning and Fire in the Dawn'. 
> 
> I will link part 3 as soon as it is published. Please be patient with me 'cause real life is keeping me busy at the moment. 
> 
> At the beginning of each chapter, there's a link to a piece of music you can listen to while reading the chapter. I tried to capture the mood of it with the piece of music. There are only soundtracks linked so it'll be easy to still read without disturbance.
> 
> One last information for now: I did not have a beta-reader for this fanfic, but I re-read it twice to make sure there are not too many mistakes or logic errors. If there's anything you don't understand, please leave a comment and I'll try to help. I am not a native speaker, so please forgive me some grammar or sentence construction mistakes ;)
> 
> And now ... have fun :) I would love to hear yor opinion on the chapters. If you'd like to leave comments, I'd really appreciate that!
> 
> Feel free to listen to this soundtrack while reading this chapter:  
> Peter B. Helland | Always | Link: https://youtu.be/tSc8WROtNfc

The breathtaking view of the approximating castle made Kakashi feel warm inside and he felt his body relaxing. Trying to massage the other bits of stiffness away, the silver haired young man smoothed his messy hair back with a slow movement of his right hand, then let it slide down to his neck.

‘Hey, Kakashi!’ He turned his head and saw Gai walking towards him after he left the train, waving one of his hands for greeting. Gai was in the same year at Hogwarts like Kakashi and had a black bowl cut which made him look ridiculous, but he didn’t care at all since year one so he definitely wouldn’t either in their starting fifth.

‘How are you doing? I hope you had some amazing holidays!’ Gai looked at him with his wide grin that never seemed to fade away. The two boys started to walk with their heavy cases towards the black carriages that would take them to the castle.

It was a beautiful autumn day and a perfect start for the new year at the wizarding school. The sun was shining through the trees where already a few leaves had turned red, brown and yellow so it couldn’t be long until autumn. The air was fresh and filled with the scents of the forest.

When Kakashi had tucked his luggage on a rack under the carriage, he climbed onto the seats and waited until it was filled with students. Gai was sitting next to him, telling about his summer, but Kakashi didn’t pay attention at all because he knew Gai did not really care if he actually listened or not. He just wanted to tell his adventures to someone and in the girl on the opposite seat he had found a willing listener. Kakashi did never speak to her before, he just knew that her name was Kurenai and that she was a Hufflepuff.

While the carriage was taking them to the castle, Kakashi let his thoughts float freely through his mind. A lot happened since he came to Hogwarts for the first time four years ago. The castle was his home, even though he did not really have a lot of friends there. Of course there were a few students who liked Kakashi and spent some time with him, but Kakashi never deeply bonded with them – he just liked to hang out with them sometimes, but they did not know much about him and he wanted it to stay like this.

One of his friends was Gai although Kakashi was very relieved that he was in another house than him. Gai was a Gryffindor and loved to tell everyone the stories about the founder Godric Gryffindor who was like an idol to the boy. Kakashi himself had been sorted into Ravenclaw and was pleased with this house. Every Ravenclaw he knew was polite but unobtrusively and Kakashi really liked this behaviour. The Ravenclaws all worked together well when it came to homework, Quidditch or other tasks where there was more than one student required for. Sure, there were some very loud or extrovert ones in Kakashi’s house, too, but most of the others were normal and good classmates. One of the Ravenclaws Kakashi liked to have around was Rin Nohara. She was a young woman with slick brown hair, nougat-coloured eyes and a friendly smile. The two of them hung around together most of the time but did not speak much, just enjoyed each other’s company.

Rin was very good with healing spells. Her grades in Potions were outstanding and she was called one of the best potion students of the whole school by many teachers. Kakashi was very bad in this subject so he was glad Rin helped him out whenever he needed her skilled hands and knowledge.

Except from Rin, Kakashi also hung out sometimes with a boy named Asuma Sarutobi. He was a Gryffindor but would also make a pretty good Ravenclaw because he was a clever mind. Asuma was the Keeper of the Gryffindor’s Quidditch team and made a fantastic job on the broomstick. Whenever he was around there were a few girls nearby, trying to speak to him or just admiring him. No wonder he was one of the most popular boys at school – he looked good with his sharp cheekbones, the intense dark brown eyes and his fancily styled black hair. And he was very tall and muscular, too.

In their third year, Asuma joined the Quidditch team which was the start of his career as the popular boy. Kakashi always spent some time with him to practice spells for Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Sometimes they met in the library to study together.

These three people were the closest ones to Kakashi in Hogwarts and he looked forward to their fifth year which was about to start in a few minutes when they would finally reach the castle.

‘Did you enjoy your holidays?’ Gai asked Kakashi who needed a few moments to realise that he was the one Gai spoke to.

‘Umm, sure, yes,’ Kakashi stammered, clawing his fingers into his legs because he didn’t like to chat now.

‘I hope I will get a girlfriend this year!’ Gai sighed out loudly and glanced a quick look at Kurenai, but she just rolled her eyes and shook her head in refusal. The disappointed look on Gai’s face made Kakashi chuckle a little.

‘What’s so funny? You don’t have a girlfriend either, Kakashi, and don’t tell me you don’t want one.’

‘To be honest, I really don’t,’ Kakashi replied and it was the truth. Relationships weren’t quite his thing and he was already struggling with normal social life. Bonding with others was not one of his strengths and he’d rather stay alone than have any obligations towards a girlfriend.

‘You’re strange, Kakashi.’ Gai stretched out his arms and legs because the castle was already coming in sight. ‘Everyone wants someone by his side. I’m pretty sure you don’t want a girlfriend because you already have one.’

‘Nonsense.’

‘You and Nohara seemed pretty close last year. Anything you wanna tell me that I don’t know about yet?’

Kakashi didn’t like the suggestive expression on Gai’s face and wanted to make clear that there was nothing between Rin and him when the carriage stopped and everyone left to grab their luggage. Relieved that Gai let go of the topic, Kakashi pulled his case up the way to the entrance doors of Hogwarts. Then suddenly someone tapped his shoulder and he turned around.

‘Hi.’ Rin’s brown eyes were warm when she smiled at him, making Kakashi feeling comfortable immediately. He definitely missed her during summer although they had exchanged a few letters.

‘Hey, Rin.’ Kakashi smiled back. Both of them headed towards the Ravenclaw tower to put their luggage down there before entering the Great Hall for their first dinner this school year. The house elves always outdid themselves with the sumptuous big feast they prepared for the student’s arrival. Tons of delicious plates full of chicken legs, roasted meat, side dishes, vegetables of the season and delicate desserts were waiting for the boys and girls every year. But before the plates appeared, the headmaster of Hogwarts stepped on his stage and everyone immediately went silent.

‘Good evening.’ He looked around the residents of the castle with a smile on his young face. Minato Namikaze became headmaster in Kakashi’s second year. The old one had retired after being the headmaster for thirty years and now Minato was in charge. He was in his late twenties and there had been a lot of discussions about him not being appropriate for this job because of his age, but since the old headmaster had assigned Minato because he had been convinced by his skills and knowledge, everyone was now confident with their young headmaster and he made a pretty good job so there was nothing to complain about.

‘I warmly welcome you all to a new year at Hogwarts,’ he continued his speech. ‘This year we all have a new chance to do whatever we can to make this school a great and enjoyable place for everyone. Before I continue with the news, I kindly welcome our new first year students.’

Applause resonated when the entry doors swung open and the leader of house Gryffindor, Tsunade Senju, entered the room like a mother duck with the new first years following her like ducklings. Kakashi did not know her very well, but he knew she was called _The Slug Queen_ by the students (and some teachers too) when she was not around. Rumours said that she could transform herself into a giant slug, but nobody ever saw her doing that and so it was just a legend that was passed on from the older to the younger students in the hallways of the castle.

His own Head of House was Professor Jiraiya. Nobody knew his last name because he had been a vagabond before he became a teacher in Hogwarts. Whenever he met a new student, he just said, ‘I’m Jiraiya. I don’t like being called Professor, but since the etiquette in this old-fashioned castle requires it, please call me Professor Jiraiya.’

Kakashi liked his Head of House very much. When he was struggling with the subject History of Magic in his second year, Professor Jiraiya gave him some private lessons to show Kakashi a few ways of how the history of the magical world could be more interesting for him. These lessons were funny and educationally at the same time and Kakashi’s grades got better in the next exam. Sometimes Professor Jiraiya still called for Kakashi to come to his office, but only for a few minutes of private chatting and not for education.

After Kakashi’s father had died when he was only five years old, he never opened up much to anyone except for Jiraiya. There was something about this man that made Kakashi feel welcome and not like a burden. The old man seemed to enjoy their private time as much as Kakashi did and so Jiraiya’s office became a place he was always happy to go to. Because Kakashi’s mother had died at his birth and none of his grandparents was alive anymore, he had nowhere else to go and no one to talk to that belonged to his family.

In his first year at Hogwarts Kakashi wanted to be alone so badly he searched for a private place everywhere in the castle. But whenever he thought he finally found one, someone was still passing by. One day Kakashi was lost in thoughts and he didn’t know all of the castle’s corridors by then so when he looked up he found himself somewhere he had never been before. While trying to find his way back to the main corridor, he stood in front of an old rusty door that led outside the castle to a little stone-tiled deck next to a tower. It was not big, maybe five metres long and four wide, but it was definitely a place that seemed not to be owned by other students. And that was what Kakashi liked so much about it. The view down on the Hogwarts grounds was amazing and Kakashi never got tired of it. He came to this place whenever he needed to be alone.

‘First years, listen!’ Professor Tsunade’s voice sounded loudly through the Great Hall. She preferred to be called by her first name, too, and some students rumoured that Jiraiya and Tsunade had something going on or at least had a mutual past. The students loved to tell stories about the teachers, and a lot of them were made up by students that already left Hogwarts, but a little gem of truth was behind every good story. Kakashi never heard Professor Jiraiya talking about Professor Tsunade in private before, but when they met on the corridor, they always tried to outdo each other with a quick exchange of words.

‘ _Slugging_ your way to the next lesson, Tsunade?’

‘Still faster than you ‘cause you keep drooling over the young ladies, old pervert.’

Or something similar.

Right now Professor Tsunade let the newbies form a row in front of the Sorting Hat. Kakashi usually liked to watch the young students be sorted into their houses, but this year he couldn’t fully focus on it. There was something that bothered him. It felt like someone was staring at him, he could feel the intense look on his body. But when he turned his head around a bit, nobody looked into his direction. Everyone was busy watching the first years getting sorted.

Headmaster Namikaze finished his speech after Professor Tsunade carried away the Sorting Hat, and then finally the meal was served. The potatoes with the sour cream dip tasted delicious and Kakashi wanted to grab some more when Rin nudged him nearly unremarkably.

‘This might sound a bit strange, but … I think the boy over there is staring at you.’

Surprised by her words, Kakashi raised his head a few inches and looked into the direction Rin described him. She wasn’t wrong – a Gryffindor was directly looking at him. His short black hair was spiky and he looked annoyed. As far as Kakashi remembered, he never spoke a word to him.

‘Who’s that boy?’ he asked Rin and took a bite from his meat, trying to sound like he wasn’t bothered by this at all.

‘Wait, you don’t know him?’ she hissed in disbelief. ‘This is Obito Uchiha, the boy who survived the assassination on his family. He is the only one who is still alive. Don’t you remember? Everyone talked about this when he was enrolled with us four years ago.’

Of course Kakashi heard of the story of Obito Uchiha. Everyone in the magical world did. He was the boy who survived. But he looked different this school year and that was why Kakashi did not recognise him at first. When the silver haired boy met him for the first time, he had big goggles on his head like he was about to ski jump every minute. And he had really messy black hair and a pretentious grin on his face. None of this was now visible on the young man anymore. He obviously became more mature. And since Kakashi didn’t care about others a lot, he did not notice him changing through the last years. They barely met in the corridors and when they did, Kakashi didn’t care much for him.

‘Why does he keeps staring at you?’ Rin asked now and brought him back to reality.

‘Maybe he’s not staring at me, but at you, Rin. You’re a beautiful girl, you know.’

Rin’s cheeks blushed in a soft pink and Kakashi immediately regretted his words because he remembered what Gai said earlier this day. That he and Rin … No, no, they were just friends. He never saw Rin in _that_ way. She was his best friend and there was nothing more to it. At least from his end. He just hoped that Rin’s feelings towards him didn’t change either.


	2. The Story Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this soundtrack while reading (maybe loop it):  
> Tracey Chattaway | Nightsky | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DSeZji2x-Y

When dinner was over, the students headed to their common rooms and quarters. Everyone was tired from the long journey with the train and so most of the Ravenclaws went to bed early this evening. Kakashi and Rin also said good night around nine o’clock, but when Kakashi was lying in bed, he couldn’t sleep. His thoughts went back to the boy who looked at him during the meal. He was pretty sure the Uchiha didn’t look at Rin because Kakashi definitely felt his eyes like needles stinging his skin.

But why would the boy be interested in him? Kakashi didn’t volunteer for Head Boy or Prefect or anything else that could draw someone’s attention so he hadn’t got a single clue. When his mind didn’t want to calm down, he decided to continue studying a spell he wanted to master since the beginning of his fourth year at Hogwarts. It was a very complicated one and held a lot of risks when used for the first time, but Kakashi didn’t care. He knew his father was able to cast this spell too and since he didn’t leave a lot behind for Kakashi, his son at least wanted to become as good as his father in his magical abilities.

The spell was called the Animagus spell and it allowed the user to transform into an animal whenever they wanted to. It was strictly forbidden to cast it without someone who was already being registered as an Animagus in the Ministry of Magic. Since it could backfire horribly and make irreversible damage, it was recommended to practice this spell only with a further educated wizard or witch who was also an Animagus so that they could help out. But Kakashi didn’t tell anybody about his efforts on mastering this transfiguration spell and he didn’t want to change it in the future. He wanted to achieve this on his own.

According to the guidance of the spell the leaf of a mandrake must be held in mouth for a whole month and this had definitely been a challenge for Kakashi. But since he was living on his own since his second year in Hogwarts, he did this step of the process during the last summer holidays. The potion he was creating for this spell was waiting ready for the last step to be done: drinking it when the next lightning storm was raging over the sky.

Kakashi read the instructions to become an Animagus over a twenty times already to make sure he didn’t miss anything to avoid unnecessary risks the spell itself entailed. He was curious to find out what animal he would be able to transform into after he drank the potion. Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi’s father, was able to transform into a giant white tiger. This is why he was called _White Fang_ by his auror colleagues when he was still alive.

The moonlight that floated through the Ravenclaw quarters suddenly vanished and Kakashi looked up from his book. When he saw why, he couldn’t believe that the night sky was getting cloudy. Maybe a storm was coming? What a perfect coincidence! So decided to stay awake for a little while longer to see if he would be lucky this night to finish his Animagus potion. And his patience was rewarded: About half an hour later the first flash lighted the sky and a few seconds later a loud thunder rolled through the night. Kakashi jumped to his feet, grabbed the potion from his case that wasn’t cleared out completely yet and quickly threw over the jacket he wore this afternoon at his arrival.

When he reached the little stone-tiled deck he went to when he needed to be alone, the storm had already reached its climax. One lightning hunted the other and the thunder didn’t seem to subside any time soon. Wuthering wind tousled Kakashi’s hair when he stepped outside and he had to lift an arm to shield his face from the splashing rain. Then he slowly held up the drop-shaped glass bottle with the potion. He watched the next flash through the milky liquid that suddenly went completely clear afterwards. With excitement Kakashi opened the bottle and quickly drank the substance. While the liquid ran down his throat, he hoped he did everything right.

For one long minute, nothing happened and Kakashi already thought he had failed. But then he felt a traction in his stomach that went up his chest and around his body to his back. A fierce and keen pain overwhelmed him and he let himself sink down on the wet stone tiles, yelling loud and painfully because it felt like his body was ripped into pieces. When he thought he couldn’t bear it any longer, the pain was suddenly over. Kakashi opened his eyes. Everything was blurred and the rain was only a muffled noise. But with every blink the world began to get sharper and he also heard better.

The first thing he recognised when he looked down was that he had paws. Big, grey paws. Or were they white? Because of the unsteady light he wasn’t able to figure it out. Slowly moving, Kakashi lifted himself up and noticed he was standing on four feet and it didn’t feel wrong at all. So the transformation did work! He really transformed into an animal! But which one? Kakashi couldn’t tell yet only by the paws.

A splashing noise was drawing his attention and when he looked to his left, he didn’t believe that a black cat was sitting in front of the wall of the castle, staring at him with insanely red-coloured eyes. For one moment Kakashi’s heart skipped a beat and he hoped that the cat didn’t see him transforming into an animal, but he didn’t remember it sat there already when he came out of the door. What it if was a magical creature? Usually cats didn’t have red eyes. And when you were spending your time in Hogwarts, there was only a small chance you came across something that wasn’t magical or at least a part of the magical world.

The cat just sat there watching him and Kakashi couldn’t tear his eyes away from it, still worrying. A flash lighted the sky again and for one moment he was able to see his own shadow on the wall behind the cat. It was shaped like a big dog, almost wolf-like, and Kakashi was very proud of himself. He did master the spell correctly! Waves of joy floated through his new body, but then Kakashi realised he couldn’t transform back without his wand. Almost panicking, he quickly glanced around and breathed out in relief when he saw it laying a few metres behind him in a puddle. Unfortunately, the black cat was still there. Kakashi didn’t want to risk being seen in his human form by the little animal and so he remained where he was, unsure of what to do now. But the decision was made for him by the cat when it stood up and started to approach. Only a few feet away it stopped and sat down on the cold tiles that didn’t seem to bother it at all. It just looked with interest in its eyes at Kakashi who still didn’t know what to do. Should he run away? No, the cat would definitely follow him. And cats were good runners. Also being seen in school by the caretaker by night and as an animal wouldn’t be great either. So Kakashi decided to sit down and look at the cat until it went away or made the next move.

Those eyes. They were intoxicating and Kakashi got a bit dizzy by looking into them so he looked down on the paws of the cat. But he didn’t get the chance to do that for long. With a loud meow, the cat jumped to its feet and ran inside the castle all of a sudden. Surprised by the quick leave, Kakashi stood up and waited a few seconds before he went to where his wand laid, picked it up with his jaws and followed the cat inside. The dark corridor was empty, but Kakashi still looked around for a few moments to make sure he wasn’t watched. Then he laid his wand down again, tipped it with one of his paws and thought of transforming back to human. Luckily, no spell was needed for it.

It wasn’t as painful as Kakashi imagined after the first and very hurtful transformation. To his relief, he still had his clothes on when his body was completely human again, but somehow his shoes were gone and his jacket seemed to be two sizes smaller. But that was fine. With every transformation he would get more experienced and it wouldn’t happen again that often. At least he hoped so.

Tired to the bones, he dragged himself back to the Ravenclaw tower. Every inch of his body was hurting and he felt like he had been thrown into a pit full of peaked stones. When he finally let himself slump into his bed, he fell asleep only a few seconds later.

  
‘Kakashi, you look like you had a rough night.’

When Kakashi entered the Ravenclaw’s common room the next morning, his head ached like a rock fell down on him and he didn’t get enough rest, but that would be no excuse for being late on the first day of school. So he tried to act normal, but then he reached the middle of the room his feet gave in and he slumped on the floor.

‘Merlin’s beard, are you alright?!’ Iruka, a fellow Ravenclaw who was in his third year, kneeled down in front of him and looked up to Kakashi with a worried face. ‘Should I take you to the Hospital Wing? Madame Chiyo will look after you.’

‘No, no, it’s fine. Just … just give me a few minutes.’

Iruka nodded, stood up and packed his school bag while Kakashi massaged his temples to get rid of the headache, but it didn’t bring any relief. He sighed and regretted it instantly because that caught the other boy’s attention again.

‘I’ll bring you to Madame Chiyo now.’ Iruka grabbed Kakashi’s arm with a face expression that didn’t allow any resistance. And Kakashi let himself be dragged out of the quarters through the corridors, down some stairs and through some other corridors until they stood in front of the Hospital Wing. Iruka knocked loudly on the big wooden door and they heard footsteps approaching, then it was opened and the little old Madame Chiyo looked at them, immediately worried when she saw Kakashi.

‘Oh Merlin, what happened to him?’ She slowly guided him to one of the empty beds that were standing on both sides of the big hall.

‘He stumbled into our common room like this,’ Iruka told her while she was preparing a herbal mix on the little table next to Kakashi’s bed.

‘You did the right thing by getting him here this quickly,’ Chiyo said. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Iruka Umino, Madame.’

‘Mr Umino, please inform the teachers that this young man here –’ She noticed that she didn’t know her patient’s name yet and interrogatively looked at Iruka.

‘His name is Kakashi Hatake.’

‘Thank you. Please inform the teachers that Mr Hatake will not be able to join their lessons today. I’ll look after him. You may leave now.’

Iruka quickly nodded into Kakashi’s direction, thanked the old healer and left then.

‘And now,’ Chiyo said with a serious voice, ‘you will tell me what happened, young man. No lies! Believe me, I have seen more than you might imagine and you cannot trick me. I’ll find out sooner or later.’

Even without the old lady’s warning Kakashi didn’t plan on lying to her because he barely had the strength to open his eyes. So he just mumbled nearly inaudible, ‘I tried a new spell and it knocked me out last night. I’m just tired.’

It wasn’t the whole truth but it also wasn’t a lie.

‘I’ll just do some quick checks on you and then you will rest under my watch.’

When Kakashi opened his eyes again, he felt a lot better. Madame Chiyo gave him a drink before he fell asleep and whatever she had mixed into it, it worked out well. With new energy floating through his veins, he sat up and looked around just to see the healer sitting on a chair next to him, sleeping. Her head rested on her shoulder and she was drooling a bit. That made Kakashi smile and he silently slid out of his bed. Still a little shaky, he managed to sneak out of the Hospital Wing. It wasn’t far until the Clock Tower and Kakashi definitely wanted to know what time it was. So he quickly went to the Courtyard from where he could see the big clock. It was already a few minutes after half past eleven, so the classes were nearly over and in a short time was time for lunch.

Kakashi decided to go back to the Ravenclaw tower to unpack his case so he could finally feel at home again. And he also wanted to use this opportunity to practise his new spell. He just hoped he wouldn’t be as fucked up as after the transformation as last night.

The boy was about to turn around on his heels to head back into the castle when he heard someone speaking. Not loudly, more like they had to discuss something private, but they clearly hadn’t noticed Kakashi yet, otherwise they would’ve stopped talking already. Kakashi said to himself that this was none of his business, but something got him curious. He couldn’t point his finger on what it was, but he slipped through the round stone arches to his left into the open corridor that surrounded the courtyard and sneaked closer to where the voices came from. When he reached a corner, he stopped and remained completely motionless.

‘I already told you that I’m not interested.’ That was a young man speaking, maybe a student. But shouldn’t all students be in class right now? When Kakashi noticed he wasn’t at class either, he almost started to laugh. So this was another absentee. Except that Kakashi had a good reason not to go to class this morning.

‘You did, and I told you that you will change your mind, you will see. Sooner or later you’ll realise that you’ll need my help. And you know where you can find me then. See you soon.’

The second voice was throaty and mature and it sounded familiar, but since Kakashi wasn’t good in memorising people, he couldn’t figure out who was talking to the student.

‘I am pretty sure I won’t make use of this offer. Don’t contact me again if you don’t want me to talk to the headmaster about this.’

But the other one just laughed gutturally. Then Kakashi heard footsteps and peered cautiously over the little wall between the arches he was hiding behind. He just saw a black robe wafting through the shadows on the opposite corridor and then vanishing into the castle.

‘What do you think you’re doing there, eh?’

Kakashi winced in surprise and turned around. A boy was standing in front of him, his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking at him with narrowed eyes and a face expression that made Kakashi feel like he had to go to Azkaban any second.

‘Sorry, I just –’

‘I don’t care what you did here,’ Obito Uchiha said, ‘but I hope you had a good reason and didn’t spy on me or stalk me like those weird girls.’

‘Someone is stalking you?’ Kakashi was trying to avoid why he was here and Obito gave him the perfect reference for a quick change of topic.

‘I guess you know who I am?’ Obito sounded deeply annoyed. ‘Everyone is always interested in my life, like I’m a damn celebrity story.’ He huffed and then just waved his hand. ‘Why am I even telling you this?’

Kakashi thought about what to say when Obito let his hands slip into his pockets, shook his head and walked away without another word.

‘Wait.’ Kakashi was surprised he said that. And he didn’t even know why. But the Uchiha boy turned around although he looked like he was going to choke Kakashi.

‘What is it? Do you want an autograph?’

‘No!’ Slowly getting annoyed too, Kakashi stepped towards the Gryffindor. He began to understand why the boy acted the way he did. Everyone wanted something from him all the time. Kakashi would’ve been annoyed, too.

‘I just wanted to …’ Yeah, what was it he actually wanted from Obito?

‘Spit it out, mask boy. Otherwise I’ll go to lunch now.’

Did the Uchiha just call him by a nickname? That was new for Kakashi although everyone in his first year at Hogwarts asked him why he wore a mask and sometimes a student made a joke about him hiding an ugly face.

And then Kakashi remembered dinner. ‘I wanted to know why you stared at me last evening.’

Obito’s eyebrows raised and he cocked his head a little, but instead of giving Kakashi an answer he started to laugh.

‘I was bored and you caught my attention, that’s all,’ Obito said and shrugged his shoulders, then started walking again. Kakashi quickly followed.

‘But why me?’

‘No one else has silver hair at your age. You look like a retired wizard in their last days before death.’

Resentfully, Kakashi narrowed his eyes and bit his lip. Why was this boy so rude to him? He didn’t harm him in any way as far as he could remember.

‘My dad had silver hair, too. I don’t know why we have this hair colour in the family but since you find it that funny, maybe you should dye your hair silver and run around like this to see how it’s like. I bet no one would bother you with the boy-who-survived thing that day.’ His voice was calm although Kakashi was a bit hurt by the discourtesy of the other one. But when he looked at the boy next to him again, Obito’s face was relaxed and there was even a little smile on his lips. No signs of the grumpiness from a moment ago.

‘You’re definitely a funny guy, Kakashi.’

‘You know my name?’

‘Surprised, I see.’ Obito was amused and started to laugh a little. ‘You’re definitely not interested very much in the people around you.’

‘You’ve got me there.’ Kakashi smiled but reminded himself that the other one couldn’t see that. So he just smiled wider and hoped his eyes smiled, too.

‘Well then.’ They had reached the entrance to the castle again and Obito stopped, looked at Kakashi and gave him a grin. ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry. Mind eating lunch a bit earlier today?’

Did Obito just invite Kakashi to eat lunch with him? Wow, that was something he never expected. The Uchiha more seemed to be a loner than someone who invited someone to stay and spend time with him. So Kakashi was really surprised but since his stomach was already demanding for food, he nodded and accompanied Obito to the Great Hall. Nobody except for headmaster Namikaze was there, it was five minutes until the end of the lessons. The tables were already filled with the yummy food the house elves prepared for the residents of the castle every day. Since Kakashi never skipped the morning lessons except for the few times he had been ill in the last years, he didn’t know that the food was served before twelve. But Obito didn’t seem to be surprised and so Kakashi figured it wasn’t his first time going to lunch a bit earlier than everyone else.

When Obito let himself sink down on the wooden benches next to the Gryffindor table, Kakashi hesitated. He was a Ravenclaw. Was he even allowed to sit at the Gryffindor’s table?

‘Sit down,’ Obito said and already grabbed some of the chicken wings from a big golden plate in front of him.

‘Is it alright? I mean, I’m a Ravenclaw and this is –’

‘Don’t be a coward and take a seat.’

Quickly glancing into headmaster Namikaze’s direction, Kakashi complied with Obito’s request and sat down next to him. What would Rin say when she saw him sitting at another table for lunch?

She didn’t say a word or came over to ask when Kakashi spotted her in the crowd that was floating into the hall like a big wave about ten minutes later. His friend just sat down at the Ravenclaw table, started to talk to a girl next to her and only looked into Kakashi’s direction from now and then with interest.

The Gryffindor’s didn’t ask why Kakashi was eating at their table and nobody seemed to be bothered by it. Relieved by that, Kakashi finally started to eat and felt a lot more relaxed. But just when he thought he was save, a late student came into the hall. When he spotted the silver haired boy, he yelled, ‘Kakashi! What an honour to see you at our table! How come?’

Gai Might just reached them and let himself sink down next to Kakashi. Since Obito was sitting on the other side of the table, Gai quickly let his look wander between them as if he was trying to figure out what was going on here.

‘Did you miss me and want to eat with me today? Oh, that’s so sweet of you, Kakashi!’ Gai looked at him with his big grin and started to shovel food onto his plate.

‘He’s with me,’ Obito said to the boy with the bowl haircut and his voice sounded a bit possessive, as if he wanted to make clear that Kakashi didn’t come to the table just for fun.

‘Woah, alright, calm down, Uchiha.’ Gai raised his hands in defence and his grin disappeared. ‘I’m not here to steal your boyfriend.’

‘He’s not …’ Obito sighed and then left the sentence unfinished. Instead, he grunted and took a bite from his meal. That made Kakashi feel very unwell and so he decided to clarify what was going on.

‘Obito and I had to discuss something so we decided to eat lunch together,’ he said to Gai who was raising his eyebrows, but then nodded and started to eat. Fortunately, he didn’t pick up the topic again, instead started to talk about his plan on how to get into the Quidditch team this year. Only listening with half an ear, Kakashi agreed here and then to Gai’s words, but was mostly focused on the boy on the other side of the table. Something about him seemed … off. He held his fork with a shaking hand and his knuckles were white as if it took a lot of power to do so. And he didn’t look at Kakashi but focused on his empty plate.

To make sure he was okay, Kakashi nudged Obit’s foot under the table with his own. Surprised, the Uchiha looked up and started at him with an expression Kakashi couldn’t interpret. Then Obito stood up quickly, threw his cutlery on the wooden table with a loud rattling noise and rushed out of the hall.

‘You better don’t talk to him now,’ Gai said with stodged cheeks and swallowed before he added, ‘he’s in a bad mood. Believe me, if you don’t want your head ripped off, you better leave him alone.’

‘But he was fine when we entered the hall,’ Kakashi said with irritation. ‘What could’ve possibly pissed him off that much?’

‘He’s like that all the time, don’t worry. I have never seen you two talking to each other before, but let me warn you.’ Gai looked around suspiciously to make sure no one else was paying attention, then he lowered his voice and continued, ‘Obito Uchiha is not the guy you do want to be friends with, believe me. He’s a rude boy with no manners and usually prefers to be alone. That’s why I was surprised to see you two together. All I wanna say is – be careful, okay? He might be the boy who survived an assassination, but if you ask me, it would’ve been better if he died, too.’

Those harsh words really hit Kakashi although he wasn’t the one who was insulted by them. And he also never saw Gai being that hard on someone else. His description of Obito would’ve fit the boy he met forty-five minutes ago, but not the boy he got to know after that. The soft, laughing boy with the smile on his face. Was it possible that Obito just feigned his friendly behaviour to Kakashi earlier? But if he did, then on what purpose?

Even when Kakashi went back to the Ravenclaw’s premises, he couldn’t stop thinking about Obito and what Gai said about him. The silver haired boy didn’t understand why it bothered him so much, but he knew that he wanted to get to know Obito better to find out if the rumours about him were true. If he was just a ruthless boy who kept everyone away from him – or if there was something more to him.

‘Kakashi!’

He heard his name being called when he had almost reached the entry of the common room and turned around to see Rin approaching. She looked worried and hugged him tightly when she reached him.

‘Iruka told me what happened this morning. And when I couldn’t find you in the Hospital Wing before lunch, I was deeply worried. Madame Chiyo didn’t know where you were either and so I was very glad I saw you in the Great Hall. Tell me what the hell you were thinking by vanishing from your hospital bed without telling anyone!’

Now her voice was sounding very angry and she dragged him into the common room after solving the riddle the eagle knocker gave them. Kakashi sank down on the blue sofa that was standing in the middle of the room and tried to calm his friend down.

‘I’m alright, don’t worry. I couldn’t sleep last night, that’s why I was so tired this morning, and my circulation wasn’t working well. So Iruka brought me to the Hospital Wing. I was hungry when I woke up and went to the Great Hall, and that’s all.’

‘This doesn’t explain why you were sitting at the Gryffindor table. With Obito Uchiha, a boy you barely ever spoke to.’ Rin wasn’t pleased with his answer by the sound of her voice and the suspicious expression on her face. You better not spoiled things with Rin when she was angry so Kakashi just sighed and said, ‘I met him on the way there. We talked a bit and then he invited me to stay at his table for lunch.’

Rin’s features smoothed, but she still wasn’t back to normal. Nevertheless, she didn’t ask any more questions but went to the window to look outside.

‘If you don’t want to tell me the truth, it’s alright,’ she said, and now she sounded a bit hurt which made Kakashi feel guilty immediately. ‘But I want you to know that I’m always here for you, no matter what. See you in class later then.’

With these words she hurried to get to the girl’s quarters. And Kakashi felt very uneasy. Should he tell Rin about him being an Animagus now? Maybe he should, and he should also be registered in the Ministry of Magic as an Animagus. But what if somebody asked him why he did it all alone at the high risk of failure? For now, Kakashi decided to keep it his secret.

Suddenly his thoughts went back to the cat with the red eyes and the wondered who’s pet it was. Maybe he would see it again if he transformed into a wolf in one of the following nights.


	3. An Insight to the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this soundtrack while reading:  
> Syneptic | The Hobbit (Calm Ambient Mix) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV_PfGcPewY

The start of the new school year could’ve been like all the other years before. But it wasn’t, and Kakashi couldn’t decide whether he liked the way things went or not.

He caught himself looking out for Obito Uchiha, even though he didn’t exactly know why or what he would gain from doing so. Maybe it was because of his strange behaviour in the Great Hall during lunch a few weeks ago. Yeah, that must’ve been it. Whenever the Gryffindor boy was with him in class or their ways crossed on the corridors, Kakashi looked at him, trying to catch his view. But if the other one even took a look at him, it was just a quick one and then he pretended like Kakashi wasn’t there. This strange behaviour made Kakashi wonder what he did wrong. Or was it even his fault Obito acted like that? Actually, he didn’t know.

‘Stop thinking so much!’ Rin interrupted his thoughts one afternoon when they were studying in the library.

‘I’m not –’

‘You didn’t write a single word down on your parchment yet and we are here for an hour now. Don’t tell me you’re thinking about what to write for Professor Orochimaru’s potion essay.’

Kakashi laid down his quill, leant back on his chair and sighed. ‘Alright, you got me.’

Rin stopped writing and looked at him in concern. ‘Wanna tell me what’s bothering you? You seem a bit off these days.’

To be honest, he did not want to talk about it. What should he tell Rin? That he was thinking about why the boy everyone in school knew avoided him? Obito Uchiha avoided everybody, Kakashi did observe him a bit and noticed it was exactly like Gai told him. Whenever someone wanted to speak to Obito, he fended them off or said something rude. But telling Rin about this? She would think he was an idiot.

Nevertheless, Rin was his friend. Maybe she would have some advice for him on how to continue with … yeah, with whatever it was that he was doing.

‘Remember the first day of school where I sat next to Obito?’

Rin nodded, now looking at him with curiosity in her brown eyes.

‘We talked a bit before the meal and I found out that … that … he’s not like everyone says he is. Or at least that’s what I believe.’

‘And how is the real Obito Uchiha then according to what you experienced?’

Kakashi looked up to the high ceiling, pretending to think about what to say. But he knew exactly what he was going to tell Rin. ‘He’s actually a nice guy. Funny. And his smile is contagious.’

‘That does not sound even a little bit like Obito Uchiha,’ Rin smiled, but Kakashi saw that she believed him.

‘Sounds crazy, I know. But he suddenly vanished during the meal and he avoids me since then. I cannot even make him look at me for more than one second.’

‘That side of you is new to me. You never really cared about others much.’ It was true and Rin didn’t mean it as an insult, but as a fact.

‘And this is what bothers me. I have no idea why I even want to talk to him again.’

‘Maybe to make sure it wasn’t you that made him go away that day?’

For some reason, Rin always seemed to nail it. It almost was like she had a talent for turning Kakashi’s confused feelings and thoughts into words and he was very grateful for that.

‘Maybe,’ he replied slowly, already lost in thoughts again.

It was at the end of September when Kakashi decided to practice his Animagus transformation. He didn’t dare to sneak out at night after the disaster at the first day of school in the past weeks, but this day went well for him and he felt like it was the perfect night to try again. In the first lesson of the day he gained some points for his house by answering a question about the types of application of the summoning charm _Accio_. Professor Konan rewarded him with twenty points for Ravenclaw and he felt very proud of himself. Usually it was Rin who gained the points for Ravenclaw in their classes. Kakashi was too lazy to raise his hand most of the time although he knew the answer. But today he felt very eager and motivated for some reason.

When the other boys in the dormitory of the fifth-years were finally sleeping, Kakashi sneaked out of the quarters and left the tower as silent as possible. On his way to the stone-tiled deck he passed a long corridor with doors that led to some classrooms on both sides. Then he went down some staircases and finally reached the corridor that led to the stone bridge. Right before the big doors to the bridge that were closed at night, he turned right and opened a nearly invisible old door that was halfway hidden under an old tapestry. The woman on the tapestry blinked at him for a greeting because she already knew him well and didn’t say a word to the supervisors all that years about him sneaking out there. By quickly glancing around Kakashi made sure he wasn’t watched, nodded into the woman’s direction and opened the door then.

The sky was clear and dark blue tonight, not cloudy like the last time he came out here when a storm was raging. While breathing the fresh air into his lungs, Kakashi felt his body relaxing. He opened his eyes to cast the spell when a movement in the corner of his right eye caught his attention. The boy quickly turned his head to see what it was and saw a shadow moving behind the high windows on the corridor that was built on top of the wall to his right. His body immediately tightened and he tried not to move a single inch. Hopefully the person up there hadn’t seen him, otherwise he would be in big trouble. But why was someone up there at this time? Everyone was supposed to sleep.

Curiosity won and Kakashi slowly drew back to the door he just came through, then he went to the stairs that led to the corridor where he saw the person moving. With his heart racing, he finally entered the corridor a few minutes later and cautiously looked around.

At the end of it there was a door that was off the latch and Kakashi went there, trying not to make a sound. The last thing he wanted now was being caught, but he couldn’t risk being seen on the deck at this time. That’s why he opened the door a little more and peered through the gap into a big room he had never entered before. It was not a classroom, looked more like an abandoned office. An old patched sofa was standing underneath the big windows on the right and on the other side of the room there was a nearly empty desk with a chair that only had three legs left. But nobody was in here and Kakashi decided to leave and look elsewhere for the person when he heard a rustling. So he stepped inside and slowly looked around. There was another door in here he didn’t notice a few seconds ago because the room was only lighted by the moonlight from the windows, but as he went closer he saw the door at the left corner that wasn’t closed either. Kakashi decided to look where it led and opened it carefully.

The boy was now standing on a little balcony that had the perfect view on the lake. It was not big; Kakashi reached the stone railing with only four steps. And then he winced heavily when he heard someone talking.

‘You said your dad _had_ silver hair.’

With his heart nearly jumping out of his chest because he got so scared, Kakashi looked down over the handrail and saw a ledge in the rocks beneath him. A boy was sitting there, his arms loosely laid on his bent knees, looking up to the night sky.

‘You really scared me, Obito.’

‘Does that mean your dad is not alive anymore?’ Obito continued, completely ignoring Kakashi who decided to not answer this question. Why did Obito even ask him that question now?

A few heartbeats went by before Obito turned his head upwards to where Kakashi was standing.

‘Come down here.’

Irritated and in disbelief, Kakashi remained where he was. All he was caring about was why Obito was here and why he was asking weird questions. And if he had seen him standing on that platform.

‘What are you even doing out there? You could’ve been seen by the caretaker or a teacher!’

‘Same goes for you.’ Point for Obito. ‘If you answer my question and come down here, I will answer yours.’

‘Fine,’ Kakashi indulged and crossed his arms in front of his chest. ‘But how am I supposed to get to you? Did you climb over the railing?’

The Uchiha nodded and Kakashi sighed before he carefully climbed onto the handrail, then grabbed the edges and let himself sink down. He couldn’t reach the ledge with his feet yet and so he had to let himself fall down a few inches. Then he sat down next to Obito. A smile was on his face and he looked relaxed as if he was completely at peace.

‘My mum died at my birth and my dad died when I was still very young,’ Kakashi said. ‘I was five when he … when he killed himself.’

‘I don’t have to tell you that my parents also died around that time,’ Obito mumbled, then looked at Kakashi with true condolence on his face. ‘Sorry to hear you had to experience losing your parents, too.’

The Ravenclaw boy didn’t know what to say so he just nodded.

‘You didn’t answer my question yet,’ he said after a while of silence.

‘Right.’ Obito looked at him. ‘Couldn’t sleep and went for a walk. I discovered this place in my second year and I always come here when I have to get away from others or to clear my head.’

So Kakashi wasn’t the only one who had a secret place for himself. Funnily, their places were very close to each other so it was almost a miracle they hadn’t met in the past years.

‘It’s a great view from here,’ was the only thing that came to Kakashi’s mind and Obito seemed to find it funny because he started to laugh.

‘Yeah. And it’s quiet, even in daytime. There are no used rooms around here.’

The two boys fell silent for a while and both enjoyed the beautiful night. But then Kakashi embraced the opportunity and asked, ‘Why did you avoid me in the last weeks?’

‘I’m avoiding everyone, Kakashi. You should’ve noticed that by now.’ The annoyed sound of Obito’s voice made Kakashi regret he had even asked, but his curiosity won and so he added, ‘You vanished all of a sudden that day and then you didn’t speak a word to me again. I thought you … you …’

‘What? Spit it out.’

Kakashi breathed in deeply to sort his thoughts. ‘I thought you were annoyed by something I did.’

He had expected a rude reply, but not the surprise that appeared on Obito’s face. For one moment his eyes sparkled, then he said with disbelief in his voice, ‘You really thought about my leaving all that time and worried that _you_ did something wrong?’

Not knowing what to answer, Kakashi just shrugged and nodded.

‘Wow. You really surprise me, Kakashi. Usually people tell me they are pissed off by _my_ behaviour. So I make sure to go away before they can complain.’

That wasn’t something Kakashi had expected either. ‘So … you’re avoiding people because you’re afraid they would turn away first?’

His schoolmate shrugged. ‘The last person I told about this said they were sorry for me. I never spoke to them again because I don’t want pity or some other low excuse for their fake interest in me. People just want new material for their gossip, that’s all. They do not _care_ about me. Or about my feelings.’

‘So you just push others away before they can hurt you,’ Kakashi summarised.

‘Funny, smart and clever. I think I am starting to like you, Kakashi.’ The Gryffindor grinned at the Ravenclaw who was feeling uneasy all of a sudden. He could never tell what Obito was going to say next because it always seemed to be something that you’d not expect.

‘Can I ask you something?’ he said to distract himself from his own thoughts.

‘You just did. But go on.’

Kakashi couldn’t help but smile. ‘May I join you down here from now and then?’

And again, surprise appeared on Obito’s face. For a moment it looked like he couldn’t believe what he just heard. Then he just asked nearly inaudible, ‘Why?’

‘Because I enjoy being around you.’ Kakashi surprised himself with these words. Talking about feelings usually wasn’t his kind of thing, but these words sounded right and he didn’t regret speaking them out loud.

The Uchiha turned away to look into the distance, pursed his lips and nodded slightly. Afterwards he faced Kakashi again and said, ‘You know what? You’re the first one who ever said that to me. And I do believe you. So yes – you may come here again whenever you want to. Most likely, I’ll be here too.’

Relieved, Kakashi stood up.

‘But be warned: If I have a reason to suspect your actions or intentions, I won’t allow you anywhere near me ever again. You got that?’

The addressed boy nodded and stood up. Indecisively, Kakashi looked up and thought about how to get up to the balcony.

‘Step on this stone over here, it’s easy to climb upwards from there,’ Obito explained.

‘Thank you. Good night.’

‘Good night, mask boy.’ Kakashi didn’t even had to turn around to see that Obito was smiling. Instead, he climbed up the way Obito told him and walked back to the Ravenclaw tower. His head was full of whirling thoughts about what they had talked about on the ledge.

One thing Kakashi still didn’t understand was why he was so interested in getting to know Obito better – he just knew he really wanted to. Surely not because he was the boy who survived an assassination on his family. The Ravenclaw boy never cared about things like that.

With this question still unanswered, he fell asleep as soon as he rested his head on his fluffy pillow.

Kakashi didn’t tell Rin about his meetings with Obito because he was sure she would’ve told him to stay away from that boy. He was no good company. That’s what everyone said. And Kakashi knew about this because he started to listen.

Whenever he heard the Uchiha’s name on the corridors, in class or during lunch, he pricked up his ears. Some students were talking about him because they had to share something new they heard about him. Others were just fretting about him because he had been rude or spiteful to them. Not a single time Kakashi heard someone talking nicely about Obito. That made him feel unwell because from what he had experienced, Obito wasn’t a bad guy after all. He was just tired of all this. To be honest, Kakashi would’ve been too if he was in his stead.

They barely met at their secret place because the first big loads of homework and essays came quickly in October and November. Like every year before Christmas was coming, the professors made sure that their students had enough to brood over during the cold season and the holidays. So it was already a few days before Christmas until Kakashi finally had some time to go to the little ledge again. The last two times he had been there Obito didn’t appear. Still Kakashi enjoyed the quiet place on his own then but he had to wrap himself in his bronze-blue Ravenclaw scarf because it was already getting colder.

This evening he also had to put on his winter cape because the first snowflakes were falling from the cloudy sky. Shiny Christmas tree balls were hanging everywhere in the common room of the Ravenclaws as he was on his way out. Fir needles and mistletoes were also adorning the room that was only decorated with their house flag during the rest of the year. The whole castle was festively decorated and everyone seemed to be in the mood for Christmas. Kakashi also saw a lot of students kissing under mistletoes that hung around in corridors and corners, even in classrooms some could be found. The Ravenclaw boy never understood why everyone was so excited to stand under those things. If he’d accidentally found himself under one of those, he’d go away as soon as possible. Not that he assumed someone was actually wanting to kiss him. There weren’t many girls that liked him except for Rin, and he hoped she wouldn’t kiss him either. But lately he had seen her hanging out with a guy from Hufflepuff he didn’t know by name. That was a sign she was interested in him, or wasn’t it? Kakashi didn’t care about relationships and stuff, but when two people liked each other, they spent time together, it was the same for friendships. He wished for Rin that if she was actually in love with this other guy he would love her back. This wonderful girl deserved all the happiness in the world.

On his way to his and Obito’s secret place, he passed a few classrooms. Usually he didn’t pay much attention to his environment until he got to the corridor that led to the tapestry with the door to his deck, especially not during daytime, but today he heard some loud talking from one of the classrooms and looked up. It sounded like someone was fighting in there. Kakashi decided that he didn’t want to get involved and started to walk faster.

‘Go fuck yourself, Uchiha!’

The Ravenclaw froze and stopped so quickly that he nearly tripped over his own feet. Someone seemed to fight with Obito in there and that definitely wasn’t a good thing. Quickly, Kakashi pulled himself together and leant against the wall next to the half opened door, hoping he hadn’t been noticed by now.

‘Stop badgering me and we’re all good.’ That was Obito’s voice, and he sounded like he was about to explode, hardly holding back his emotions.

‘First _you_ stop being such a dick and consider yourself superior! You’re just a little brat snatching for attention by playing the unreachable cool guy.’

A loud rumbling sounded out of the room, then Obito yelled, ‘You don’t know anything about me, Hoshigaki, so stop telling me what _I_ have to do and first work on your own manners.’

‘Behaving myself, my arse! You’re the one who’s a complete shame for this school! That fucking murderer should’ve killed you too ten years ago!’

A spitting sound, then he heard loud footsteps approaching. Only a second later a Slytherin was rushing out of the room and running towards the stairs at the end of the corridor. He didn’t even notice Kakashi while gibbering grumpily about Obito as he walked away.

With his heart beating unpleasantly against his ribs, Kakashi remained where he was for a few seconds longer, then he pushed himself off the wall and slowly walked into the room the Slytherin had just left.

He found Obito there, halfway leaning against a table, his fingers clutched at the wooden table top and with his head lowered. When Kakashi approached slowly, he only looked up for a second before he jumped to his feet, turned around and rushed to the end of the classroom, screaming, ‘Go away!’

Obito sounded deeply hurt, he was coughing and had both of his hands clenched to fists.

But Kakashi didn’t step back, came closer instead. The black haired bow narrowed his eyes and almost looked like he was about so smash the wall with his fists pushing against it so hard his knuckles turned bone-white.

‘I said, go away! Leave me alone!’ Obito’s voice was screechy, almost like he was going to lose his self-control every moment.

‘I won’t,’ Kakashi said resolved and without any hesitation in his voice. He definitely wouldn’t leave now. Obito needed someone by his side to talk and calm down.

A loud growling was the answer Kakashi got, but still he stepped forward, decreasing the distance between him and the Gryffindor boy. When he was only an arm’s length away from him anymore, he stopped.

‘Let me _help_ you, Obito,’ he almost begged when the other one didn’t turn around but started to slowly hammer one of his clenched fists against the rough stone wall. ‘Please talk to me.’

At least Obito stopped hurting himself and let his arm sink down. Then he breathed in deeply and finally turned around to Kakashi whose eyes widened as he saw the expression on Obito’s face.

He didn’t cry, but it looked like he was about to every second. Deep pain was reflected by every inch of his face. Tremoring lips, eyes that were screaming without a single sound. It was the first time Kakashi ever saw someone suffering that much in front of him and he suddenly lost all of his confidence because he didn’t have the slightest clue what he could do to help ease Obito’s pain.

‘Just … just leave me alone. Please.’ The Gryffindor’s voice was nearly inaudible and he sounded like he was about to break down.

‘No.’ Even though he felt completely unsure about how to act, Kakashi vigorously shook his head and softly touched Obito’s shoulder with his hand. ‘I’m not leaving you.’

That seemed to break down the last pieces of defence Obito held up. The boy sank down to the ground and started to sob. Quickly, Kakashi kneeled down before him and started to gently stroke his arm while the tears were rolling down Obito’s cheeks. He even cried out loud when the pain overwhelmed his body and he started to shiver as if the temperature dropped below zero degrees.

Kakashi kept comforting Obito by stroking his arm but didn’t say anything. Because no words would’ve eased his pain and Kakashi had no idea how it was to be in Obito’s place, to be harassed and screamed at for something he never wished to be part of. He just witnessed one of possibly countless times something like that happened to the boy who survived. No wonder Obito kept everyone at distance if he was treated like that.

After a while Obito calmed down. His body relaxed bit by bit and he wiped away the last tears with the back of his hand, but he didn’t look up.

‘Do you still want me to go or should I stay by your side?’ Kakashi asked silently, expecting to be pushed away soon. He would be fine with that now since Obito didn’t seem like he was going to harm himself or do something else that was stupid. But the Gryffindor surprised him by shaking his head and finally looking at him.

‘Please … please stay, Kakashi,’ he whispered cravingly, laying a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder to emphasise his request. It was the first time Obito touched him and Kakashi felt warmth spreading out in his body.

‘Of course I’ll stay with you,’ Kakashi said.

With the corners of his mouth raising into a smile, Obito nodded and whispered, ‘Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me. No one else in this school would’ve stayed if I told them to leave. And it’s also the first time somebody saw me … like this.’

The Uchiha bit his lip like he was embarrassed that Kakashi witnessed him in his weakest moment. But the Ravenclaw just smiled and replied, ‘I would never forgive myself if left you alone in this. Do you want to talk about it?’

Torn between whether telling Kakashi or not, Obito scratched his neck and bit his lip. But then he breathed out loudly and looked at Kakashi with determination.

‘That boy was Kisame Hoshigaki, a seventh-year Slytherin. I told one of his friends today to fuck off because he drove me crazy with asking questions about my life. Even when I told him to leave he kept following me everywhere before class. And after he bothered me at lunch again I got really angry and told him to fuck off. Kisame didn’t seem to like me treating his friend like that and came after me.’

‘But … but _you_ are not the one to be blamed here!’ Kakashi said indignantly, clenching his hands and shaking his head in disbelief.

‘Tell that to Kisame and his friends,’ Obito grunted, narrowing his eyes.

‘I get now why you avoid people if stuff like this happens.’

‘I avoid them because they usually pester me with questions about my past or how it is to be the one person everyone seems to know. And I’m fucking tired of being everyone’s centre of attention while they only pretend to care about me. They don’t. They just hope to get some information they can chatter away to the next person to show that they know something about me the other one doesn’t. And the worst thing is that I’m always the bad person. No one ever wonders if it’s fine to ask me about my past. They always assume it is, even if it’s not. And yet they still wonder why I’m annoyed by them.’

‘It’s not easy being the boy who survived,’ Kakashi determined.

‘Yeah. And you know what? Why should I even try to be myself if everyone doesn’t want to see that real me? They want their celebrity, the boy who survived, not Obito Uchiha, the boy who lost his parents and was almost killed himself.’

Kakashi didn’t know what to say to this. Maybe this boy next to him would’ve not went through hell if someone would have cared for the real Obito Uchiha and not for their picture of him at some point in his past.

‘I am sorry.’

‘If you’re sorry that nobody cares about the real me you can –’

‘No!’ Kakashi interrupted quickly. ‘I am sorry that no one was there for you when you needed someone to listen.’

Obito’s jaw dropped in surprise and it was obvious that this wasn’t what he had expected. ‘You’re … you’re _what?!’_

The energetic yell made Kakashi fell unwell. Did he say something stupid? Gulping and hoping he didn’t enrage Obito, Kakashi looked away. A few moments went by without either of them saying anything, but then Kakashi felt a warm hand on his own and couldn’t help looking at the Uchiha again.

‘Nobody ever said the things to me you did. That you were worried about me being mad at you. That you’re sorry nobody was there for me. Kakashi, you’re the first person ever who really _cares_ about _me_. Thank you for that.’

Now it was Kakashi who was embarrassed. He wanted to pull out his hand from Obito’s, but he didn’t let go so Kakashi cleared his throat and mumbled, ‘I only do what feels right, that’s all.’

Kakashi didn’t add that it hadn’t been like that his whole life. In fact, Rin made him realise that it was okay to have feelings. After his father’s death, Kakashi just felt empty and didn’t want to feel anything ever again. He strictly followed the orders in the orphanage he was sent to, but he didn’t care about the feelings of his fellow orphans or how he felt either. The emptiness had fully taken control over him. Just when he came to Hogwarts and met Rin, he slowly allowed emotions again bit by bit. It had been a lot of work and he cried so many times because of all the suppressed feelings from many years, but he got better. And when Professor Jiraiya supported him with moving out of the orphanage in his second year back to the house his father bequeathed to him, Kakashi felt okay again. Yet he still didn’t allow all of the feelings he held inside because he wasn’t sure what would happen if he did.

‘Your intuition is very reliable then,’ Obito smiled and then looked down to his hand that was still laying on Kakashi’s. ‘What are your plans for Christmas?’ he asked all of a sudden and it seemed the two boys surprised each other in turns. He also let go of the Ravenclaw’s hand.

‘I’m always staying here in Hogwarts since I have no family to return to,’ Kakashi replied. ‘I don’t know about you, but I have tons of homework to do over the holidays.’

‘Don’t make up excuses for not spending time with me!’ The smirk on Obito’s face made Kakashi feel more embarrassed than he already was by now. ‘But I’ve also got some homework to do. Let’s study together then, it’s more fun this way. What do you think?’

Happily smiling, Kakashi nodded. Yes, he definitely wanted to do that. But then Obito narrowed his eyes again and looked at his schoolmate like he was a new species of magical creature he just discovered.

‘I always wondered why you’re wearing that ugly mask,’ he muttered, but then grinned. ‘And I really want to know what you’re hiding underneath it. But that’s not the thing that bothers me most.’

‘It’s not?’

‘Naaah. We all have something we don’t want others to show about ourselves – look at me, I know what I’m talking about. What really bugs me is that I can’t see your smile!’

The silver haired boy started to laugh out loudly and couldn’t stop for about a minute. When he finally did, Obito looked at him like Kakashi had mocked him with his reaction.

‘I am sorry,’ Kakashi coughed, still a bit out of breath from the laughing. ‘Everyone who asked me about the mask was sure I am hiding an ugly face underneath it. But nobody ever wanted to see me smiling.’

For one moment, both boys fell silent. It was a weird silence, like they both realised something about each other and also themselves. But then Obito clapped his hands together and jumped to his feet. ‘Well then, Kakashi ugly-mask Hatake – to some successful holidays!’

Kakashi grabbed the hand Obito reached out for him and let himself be pulled onto his feet.

‘I can’t wait,’ he said with a smile and he knew that Obito could see it through his mask because he smiled back. And then they went to the Great Hall together because it was almost time for dinner.


	4. This is the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this soundtrack while reading (maybe loop it):  
> Harry Potter Winter Music | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7smahC_IAiY

Everyone wondered how and when, of all the students that lived in Hogwarts, just these two somehow agreed to stick together – Obito Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake. No one ever saw them being around each other or even talking, and suddenly they seemed to be glued together out of nowhere.

Rin was the first one who asked Kakashi about his new friend the day after Kisame and Obito had their fight. Obito and Kakashi sat at the Gryffindor table for breakfast and also went to their first lesson together. But since Obito had his together with the Slytherins in the Astronomy tower, he waved Kakashi a goodbye in front of everyone before he walked away nonchalantly.

‘I know you can be strange sometimes, Kakashi, but how on Earth did you become friends with Obito Uchiha?’ She sounded curious and maybe a little reproachful too, but Kakashi knew she was just worried about him since Obito was seen as the bad guy by everyone.

‘I’ll tell you after the lesson,’ he replied when Professor Jiraiya entered the room for a new lesson of History of Magic. Today’s topic was the dark age and Kakashi loved Professor Jiraiya’s lessons, but this morning he couldn’t focus on the teacher’s words. His thoughts always went back to Obito when he tried to follow the narration of the Professor. But then Rin nudged him a few minutes before the lesson was over and Kakashi felt like waking up from a dream.

‘Kakashi? Will you answer my question today or do I have to wait for your reply until tomorrow?’

A few students started to laugh and Kakashi felt his cheeks blushing when he saw Professor Jiraiya looking at him with a grin, leaning against his table.

‘I’m sorry, Professor … I was just thinking about what I would’ve done if I was born in the dark ages.’ Kakashi was already thinking he was save when the Professor raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms in front of his chest and said, ‘Is that so? And what would you have done if the scenario I just described happened to you?’

Of course Kakashi hadn’t got the slightest clue what the elder man was talking about, so he just looked down on his table and didn’t answer.

‘Kakashi, please stay after the lesson. I want to talk about a few things with you.’

Feeling ashamed, Kakashi nodded, still inspecting the texture of the wooden table.

When the lesson was over, Rin told him she was going to tell Professor Tsunade that he would be late. Thankfully, Kakashi looked at her and waited for the other students to leave.

‘Well, Kakashi. Something’s going round and round in your head, am I right?’ Professor Jiraiya pulled up a chair and straddled it. ‘Wanna talk about it?’

‘No, sir.’

‘Since when do you call me sir?’ On Jiraiya’s face appeared a smile. ‘Come on, I can see it in your face that something’s bothering you. Let me guess – teenager problems?’

Irritated, Kakashi raised his eyebrows. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Ah, the kids nowadays. Always pretending they’re fine, even if they’re not.’ The white haired man paused for a moment, then he continued. ‘I think you’re in love and don’t know how to behave, am I right?’

Kakashi almost laughed. ‘No, I’m not. I just need to get used to something.’

‘Or someone?’

Why did the Professor always guess it right? Surrendering, Kakashi nodded with a sigh. ‘But it’s not like you think it is!’

‘Of course not,’ Jiraiya smiled and stood up then. ‘Fine, we’ll talk soon again. Go to Slug Queen’s lesson now, I am pretty sure she’s already missing you very much.’

On his way out, Kakashi couldn’t help but laughing internally over the nickname of Professor Tsunade. He still wanted to find out why she was called by it, but it wasn’t his main concern at the moment.

When lunch was served, Kakashi was sitting at the Ravenclaw’s table again but glanced to the Gryffindor table quickly from now and then. Which didn’t slip Rin’s attention.

‘Kakashi.’ Her voice sounded annoyed and she also sighed. ‘Are you going to tell me now what happened or not?’

Before Kakashi was able to reply, he felt the empty seat on his left being filled and looked in a familiar grinning face when he turned his head.

‘Hey, Kakashi.’ Obito nudged him with his elbow. ‘I thought I’d join you at your house table today. How was your school day so far?’

‘I had to stay after Professor Jiraiya’s lesson because I wasn’t paying attention to him,’ Kakashi told him while rolling his eyes which made Obito laugh. ‘And your Head of House’s lesson was pretty boring. She wanted us to transform our school books into snakes, can you believe that? We already did that last year. I think she was miles away from us today in her mind.’

‘Ah, Slug Queen is a bit distracted lately,’ Obito confirmed. ‘Rumours say she had a fight with Professor Jiraiya, but nobody knows any details.’

‘Can I ask you something?’ Both boys were surprised when Rin interposed, directly addressing Obito.

‘Of course,’ he replied and Kakashi saw him biting his lower lip. Clearly Obito was expecting the usual questions about his life. But Rin wouldn’t be Rin if she did what everyone else did.

‘Why are you two such good friends now? I never saw you together before and now you seem to be close friends. How come?’

The tension vanished from Obito’s face and transformed into a chilled smile. ‘You know,’ he started and laid an arm around Kakashi’s shoulders which made the Ravenclaw blush hardly – thanks to his mask nobody was able to see it – and then he continued, ‘let’s say Kakashi saved me from an unpleasant meeting and followed me everywhere since then like a guard dog.’

‘Hey! That’s not true!’ Kakashi shouted but immediately lowered his voice when he saw some heads turning into his direction. ‘I didn’t follow you!’

The two boys started a heated discussion in which Obito nearly only laughed over Kakashi’s stupid explanations on how they became friends. Rin was just watching the boys with a smile and shook her head from now and then unbelievingly while she was eating her meal.

When school was finally over on the day before Christmas, there was a big commotion in the castle. A lot of students left Hogwarts for the holidays and only a few stayed including Kakashi and Obito. They watched the Entrance Hall emptying from the stairs that led to the upper floors and couldn’t wait for the others to leave. Rin was also leaving for Christmas and wished both of them a good time.

‘And don’t do something stupid!’ she added when she waved them goodbye and went out of the main gates, dragging her case after her.

‘She is really worried about you,’ Obito grinned and poked his friend with his elbow. ‘If I didn’t know better I’d say she is in love with you.’

Kakashi rolled his eyes, trying to outplay his embarrassment. ‘It’s not like that. We are friends since our first year.’

‘Feelings change. Especially when a girl and a boy are involved,’ Obito insisted. ‘Or is it you who’s heart is beating a little faster when she is around?’

Now laughing, Kakashi shook his head emphatically. ‘No, Obito, and please stop. Rin and I are just friends and I don’t even know what love feels like.’

Whoops. Actually, he didn’t want to say that oud loud, but he did and Obito raised his eyebrows, looking surprised. ‘You never had a crush on someone? Go tell that to anyone else, I don’t believe you.’

‘But it’s true!’ Kakashi’s helpless yell made Obito snort. ‘I never liked someone in _that_ way. You know I don’t care much about people.’

The big entrance gates closed behind the last student and suddenly the two boys were surrounded by silence. Biting his lip and thinking about whether he should explain himself more or not, Kakashi looked down on the empty corridor beneath him.

‘Shall we start with our homework then?’ Obito asked and Kakashi was relieved about that change of subject so he nodded and the two went to their towers to grab everything they needed for a study afternoon.

The Ravenclaw quarters were completely empty. Everyone of Kakashi’s classmates he shared a bedroom with left for Christmas. That’s why he got the idea of finally practising his Animagus spell again as long as he had the opportunity to. But first he had to write an essay for Professor Yahiko’s lessons. They should write two pages on how to act if they ever crossed paths with a dragon of an unknown species.

Defence against the Dark Arts was one of Kakashi’s favourite subjects. Their teacher was a young man with short orange-coloured hair. Professor Yahiko made a pretty good job and everyone loved his lessons.

‘Slug Queen really knows how to ruin the holidays!’ Obito complained as soon as Kakashi reached the table in the library where they wanted to meet. ‘I mean, come on … she really wants five pages on the rules of the transformation of animals.’

‘You know we’re preparing our O.W.L.s this year, right? I am sure Professor Tsunade knows what she’s doing.’

‘She is cruel!’ Obito insisted, but a grin appeared on his face. ‘But you’re a good student, Kakashi. Would you mind writing my essay?’

That made Kakashi laugh. ‘Seriously, Obito, more discipline, please! You won’t pass the O.W.L.s if someone else is doing your homework for you.’

‘But I’m very bad in Transfiguration!’

‘One more reason why you should start writing your essay now.’

With a loud sigh, Obito let his head sink down on the table, murmuring, ‘You’re so stubborn, Kakashi! You won’t even help a friend in need!’

‘Stop it! Merlin’s breath, did anyone ever tell you’re a real nag?’

Since no one else was in the library this afternoon, the boys did not care about their loud conversations and laughing. Kakashi really enjoyed studying with Obito because it was funny to watch him brooding over his homework, mumbling how much he hated his teachers for it and sometimes even sighing deeply like he was going to capitulate any moment. 

The loud rumbling of their stomachs made them pause and walk to the Great Hall for a dinner with the teachers and students that stayed during the holidays. Both of them just turned the corner to the Great Hall when they suddenly froze.

A girl and a boy from the year below were standing a few metres ahead, passionately kissing under a mistletoe. Watching this made Kakashi feel unwell and he quickly glanced at Obito with eyes asking what to do now. But to his irritation Obito was looking at the couple with a face expression Kakashi couldn’t pin down completely. Was it … longing? No, that couldn’t be it. Obito wouldn’t wish for a girlfriend, he wasn’t quite the type for that. Or was Kakashi completely wrong?

Softly, he nudged his friend into his arm and like he was waking up from a dream, Obito blinked a few times and looked at Kakashi then with a slight haze over his eyes.

‘Let’s go,’ he said hastily, almost running away from the turtledoves. ‘I’m so hungry I could eat a whole dragon on my own!’

Not many people were in the Great Hall when they arrived there. Only headmaster Namikaze, Professor Jiraiya, Professor Tsunade and a few students from the first and second year were sitting around a little table at the end of the hall were usually the teachers were eating.

‘Ah, I see we have two more hungry mouths to feed!’ Minato Namikaze said when Obito and Kakashi sat down.

‘Kakashi, it’s nice to see you made a new friend.’ Professor Jiraiya smiled at Obito who nodded politely towards the elder wizard. Since Kakashi didn’t know what to say to that, he just nodded too and started to take some vegetables from the plate in front of him.

During the meal Obito didn’t say a single word what made Kakashi think about their earlier meeting with the couple on the corridor. The two didn’t come for dinner, maybe they had something better to do. Thinking of that, Kakashi nearly choked on his potato. Why did Obito stare at them like he was wanting to switch places? The Ravenclaw already experienced Obito wasn’t the tough and cool guy he always pretended to be, but him being interested in love and stuff like that? Kakashi couldn’t imagine that by now.

‘You sound like a slug when you eat,’ Professor Jiraiya commented on Professor Tsunade’s way to eat her soup. Her eyes narrowed immediately and she looked at him like she was going to use _Avada Kedavra_ on him any moment.

‘Better watch out you don’t slobber, old man.’

‘Nah nah, you two. Stop that.’ Headmaster Namikaze laughed nervously like he experienced a similar situation before and didn’t succeed last time. ‘Would you please not fight now? We want to celebrate Christmas.’

‘I am celebrating, headmaster.’ The teacher for History of Magic leant back on his chair, laid his hands on his belly and watched the woman next to him continue eating her soup. ‘I am complimenting my good old friend Tsunade here, isn’t that a good way of celebrating?’

Kakashi watched Obito spluttering, trying not to laugh himself. Jiraiya was making fun of everything and everyone, that was nothing new. But nearly provoking a quarrel in front of the students? That was something he never did before. And when he noticed Headmaster Namikaze’s look, regret appeared on the old man’s face.

Tsunade grunted, ‘Go back to your office and mark some essays. I am sure you’re behind time because you keep writing your tattered old -’

‘Professor Tsunade, stop it! Not in front of the students. I think it might be better you two leave us alone now.’ Professor Namikaze wouldn’t tolerate any more dissent by the sound of his voice, and the two addressed Professors stood up. On their way out they still tried to trump over each other with their insults, but Kakashi also saw their hands touching one time when they walked away.

‘I bet they need to let off some steam now,’ Obito whispered into Kakashi’s ear with amusement.

‘Sorry for the interruption,’ the headmaster apologised, looking at everyone with big eyes full of worry. Kakashi couldn’t help thinking of a puppy and chuckled a little. ‘How about we play a game after the meal? I know a few funny party games.’

When it was time to go to bed, everyone wished a good night and left the Great Hall. Obito and Kakashi walked along a few corridors together before their ways parted because the Ravenclaw tower was located on the west side of the castle. They agreed on meeting for breakfast, then they walked into different directions. But Kakashi didn’t go to the Ravenclaw tower. Instead, he took the path to his secret place, hoping Obito wouldn’t decide to go to his now too because the chance he would see Kakashi practising his Animagus spell was high. Even though he trusted Obito, he wasn’t comfortable with him knowing that Kakashi could transform into an animal.

When he had reached the deck, he immediately focused on the transformation. The amazing thing about being an Animagus was that you could do it at will. There were no words necessary, not even a wand. The first few times he transformed, Kakashi used his wand for safety reasons, but he didn’t anymore. Feeling his bones rearranging, Kakashi closed his eyes because it always made him feel a bit dizzy seeing the world distorting. Then he felt the cold wind blowing through his fur and he opened his eyes again just to see that it started to snow. Big white snowflakes were falling down, melting on his warm body. Enjoying the deep silence that came with the snow, Kakashi slowly stepped towards the edge of the deck where he sat down, letting his tail hang down from the edge to the abyss. And then he just sat there watching the snow fall, being completely at peace with himself. It was an incredible feeling and Kakashi nearly indulged to the urge of howling. The animal instincts were still overwhelming for him whenever he transformed into a wolf. It was like he really became part animal and not only took its shape. For example, Kakashi could smell a lot better. And his ears were able to hear more than when he was human.

That’s why he was able to hear someone talking and he automatically pricked up his ears. He couldn’t hear the exact words though, it sounded more like a muffled noise in his ears. But something inside Kakashi told him that he should go find that person. It was like following an instinct when he did, and he didn’t even transform back to his human form when he stepped inside the castle. Holding his wand in his jaws, he sneaked towards the stone bridge and wondered why the gate that led onto it was open at this late time. As silent as possible and hiding in the shadows of the walls, he approached the gates and stopped when he saw someone moving on the bridge.

Because of the cloudy sky no moonlight was enlightening the bridge and so all Kakashi could see was two persons standing out there. Even though his vision was clearer and more intense in his wolf form, he couldn’t tell who it was that was speaking. But he recognised that voice from somewhere. He stepped back into the castle so he definitely wouldn’t be seen.

‘I promise you that if you’ll come with me, I’ll show you how you can activate that immense power.’

‘Stop talking nonsense! My mother didn’t have it and so it’s not sure if I even inherited it. And I don’t even want that power!’

Surprised to hear Obito talking, Kakashi focused even more on understanding every single word spoken. Who was Obito talking to this late? And what were they conversing about?

‘Listen to me, Obito. You know why I told you everything about the assassination on your parents.’

Kakashi breathed in sharply. Who the hell was this other guy?!

‘It didn’t happen the way everyone said. It was –’

‘You already told me that!’ Obito snapped, getting really angry now. ‘And I also said to you that I do not want to join you. I don’t seek for revenge. What would that change? I can’t bring my parents back by going after the murderers!’

‘Yes, you are right, nothing will bring them back. But you can help us preventing other crimes they sure will commit in the near future. I told you that we have a spy in their rows, and it looks like they will try again.’

Obito didn’t answer for a few seconds and Kakashi wondered if he was shocked too. But when he replied, his voice was lowered and sounded like it was about to break. ‘Try … try _what_ again?’

‘Taking over the magical world.’

Obito gasped, and Kakashi nearly yelped. What in Merlin’s sake was he witnessing here?!

‘No … that can’t be true …’

‘That’s why we need you, Obito. Because you’re the only one who could stop them from doing so.’

Minutes of silence elapsed and Kakashi was wondering what Obito was doing, but he didn’t dare to look around the opened gates he was hiding behind. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, Obito mumbled something. A single word, but Kakashi felt like it was drowning him.

‘How?’


	5. Kakashi’s Wondrous World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this soundtrack while reading:  
> Chronicles of Narnia | Winter Woods Music & Ambience | https://youtu.be/5RHTt4_XVVU

The whole night long Kakashi was lying awake in his bed. He couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation that Obito and the mysterious other man had. To Kakashi this still felt like he had a bad dream.

Everyone in the magical world knew what happened to the Uchiha family ten years ago. It was the story of the boy who survived an attack of a group called Konoha. Rumours said that they were led by someone who was pure evil with immense power. No one knew his name, but some people said they had seen him before. According to them, he was a tall man with a lot of thick black hair and magical eyes that could kill you within a second. Rumours also said that he was a relative of the Uchiha family, but there was no evidence to prove this right or wrong.

At that night ten years ago a strong member of the wizard group Konoha entered the house of the Uchihas and killed them because the leader wanted to steal something from them, at least if you believed the newspapers. They also tried to kill the five-year-old Obito, but somehow the boy was able to withstand the intruder. Nobody knew how, not even Obito himself. He had only little memories on this event, or at least that was what he said to the newspapers. But the _Daily Prophet_ , one of the newspapers of the magical world, accounted that witnessing the death of his parents unleashed the power of the Uchihas in the boy, a hidden magical ability that was, according to rumours, inherited only in this old magical family – and that was the reason the organisation had been after them. Nobody knew what this power was or how it worked, but it seemed the only possible explanation the reporters came up with and everyone accepted it to be true. And because of all the rumours in this story Obito was bothered so much with it. Everyone wanted to know what really had happened. Kakashi did never care much about this – until now. Because he got involved in something he didn’t intend to, even if Obito and the other guy didn’t know about this.

What drove him mad this night and didn’t let him find some sleep was if he should talk about this to Obito or not. How would he take it? Would he be mad at Kakashi for eavesdropping? Would he tell him to never speak to him again? The worst scenarios went through the Ravenclaw’s head while the night was wearing on. It was already dawning when Kakashi finally fell in a fitful sleep.

A knocking woke him up and he sat up in bed, feeling more tired than before he fell asleep.

‘Kakashi? Are you in there?’ Surprised to hear Professor Jiraiya’s voice, Kakashi crawled out of bed and opened the door just to look into his Head of House’s worried face.

‘Thank Merlin you’re fine. Your friend asked for you when you didn’t appear for breakfast.’

‘Sorry,’ Kakashi mumbled. His head was aching pretty badly from all the pondering last night. ‘I’ll be down in a minute.’

‘That won’t be necessary. He’s already waiting for you in the stairwell. Tell me when you need something, will you? Oh, and Merry Christmas!’

Waving his hand, the Professor walked out of the quarters down to the common room. Kakashi didn’t even bother about putting some decent clothes on, he just went after the Professor in his pyjama and faced Obito out in the stairwell.

‘You didn’t come for breakfast. I was worried, that’s why I sent Professor Jiraiya to check on you. Sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise, I would’ve done the same.’ Kakashi couldn’t hold back a long yawn. ‘I didn’t sleep well last night.’

Obito grinned at him. ‘You better look into a mirror before you leave your tower,’ was all he said and Kakashi rolled his eyes. Did Obito really had to tell him that he looked awful?! He already assumed that.

‘I took some bun and eggs for you,’ the Gryffindor said and held up a stuffed paper bag. ‘May I enter?’

Without further ado, Kakashi nodded and let Obito follow him into the empty Ravenclaw common room.

‘Wow,’ was all Obito said when he was glancing around in the decorated room. ‘You Ravenclaws even like to show off in your own walls, huh? All those awards and cups … and these Christmas balls …’

They sat down on the blue sofa in the middle of the room and Kakashi thanked his friend for bringing him food. In fact, he was starving to death, and so he almost scoffed his breakfast while Obito continued looking around. When Kakashi sighed appreciatively and satisfied, he asked Obito if he saw the snow falling last night. For one moment there was a shadow on Obito’s face, but then he just shrugged and said, ‘I was very tired and went to bed early.’

Now Kakashi had proof that Obito was a good liar. He didn’t even blush a little by telling that lie, and the silver haired boy was a little disappointed. But he wasn’t better himself, hiding things from both Rin and Obito.

‘Hey, Kakashi, what I wanted to ask you …’

The Ravenclaw looked up when his friend didn’t go on. ‘What is it you want to ask me?’ he helped out. Obito laughed nervously, then said, ‘It feels weird asking _you_ about _my_ past, but … what do you think happened that night I survived? Do you believe what everyone says?’

A few heartbeats went by before Kakashi replied slowly, ‘I did never think much about this if I’m honest. But I always wondered how a little kid could stand against a powerful adult. It feels like something is missing in the story. Something important.’

His friend seemed to think about what he said and remained silent for about two minutes. Then he directly faced Kakashi and mumbled, ‘I have no memories of that night, or at least not enough to come to a conclusion. It’s like a puzzle where all pieces are wildly assorted and you can’t figure out which piece belongs where.’

Insightfully, Kakashi nodded and laid a hand on Obito’s arm.

‘But somewhere deep inside of me, I know I did something when the murderer of my parents stood in front of me, something I have never done before. I think I remember an energy floating through my veins, and I see the face of the man turning pale. And that’s all. Everything else in my memory is just dark and foggy.’

Kakashi got dressed after they talked for a little while longer about random stuff like Quidditch or homework, but he avoided mentioning the happening last night at any chance. Then they headed for the library again to study. But before Kakashi was able to put his books on the big table, Obito pushed a little box wrapped in fancy red paper towards him.

‘Merry Christmas, Kakashi. I hope you’ll like it.’

In all this mess Kakashi totally forgot about buying Christmas presents and so he was even more surprised that Obito wanted to gift him something.

‘I … I don’t have anything for you, sorry …’ he mumbled and looked at the gift in front of him, deciding whether he should open it now or not.

‘Baka!’ Obito laughed. ‘You are my friend, and a true friend is what I wished for in a long, long time. That is enough for me. Now open it!’

Speechless about Obito’s confession, Kakashi felt his eyes welling up with tears. He never expected to be this important to the Gryffindor boy and hearing him say it made Kakashi feel incredibly happy because he felt the same. Even though Rin was his best friend, his friendship with Obito felt different. More … intense.

So he grabbed his gift and slowly unwrapped it. Inside the box was a little bracelet. It was made of a finger-width red fabric string with a metal closure at both ends. There were a few letters written on the little plate on the band.

_FORTUNA._

‘Fortuna means luck,’ Obito said with a smile. ‘Guess a little bit of luck is what we both need in life, right? And look, I have the same one, so they’re like friendship bracelets.’ He grinned widely, held up his arm and pulled up his sleeve. The same red band was tied around his wrist. Kakashi looked at him with tears streaming down his cheeks, vanishing in his mask that slowly got wet.

‘Oh, please stop crying, Bakashi, you’re making me uncomfortable!’

But Kakashi couldn’t stop. Everything he held inside for so long now wanted to break free in this moment. All the pain about losing his father, being not able to allow emotions because they would’ve destroyed him … not being able to talk about his life because no one really understood what he went through … Now he found someone who shared his pain. Someone who _understood_ what it felt like to be on your own after you lost everyone you loved. Not only someone who cared like Rin did. Of course she eased his pain and Kakashi was very glad Rin was his friend who helped him becoming more normal again. But she didn’t really understand him. Obito did. And even though he went through so much more trouble in his life than Kakashi, yet here he was, smiling like a child with a big grin on his face like nothing bad in this world mattered. However, Kakashi was just sitting there, crying his heart out what felt incredibly good, and at some point Obito walked around the table, pulled Kakashi to his feet and hugged him tightly. It was the first time they did that and Kakashi felt his body relaxing immediately, but he couldn’t stop crying.

‘It’s alright,’ Obito whispered calmingly. Kakashi scented his freshly aquatic smelling shampoo while resting his head on the Gryffindor’s shoulder. He was reminded of a sunny summer’s day with a big blue sky, feeling nothing than happiness. And when he lifted his head from Obito’s shoulder to look him in the eyes, he felt relieved like never before in his whole life.

‘I’m glad you like my present so much you cried about fifteen minutes over it,’ Obito teased him, but his happy smile revealed his true feelings. Subsequently, he pushed Kakashi away softly and went to the opposite side of the table again.

‘But now I really need your help on my homework for Astronomy,’ he complained with a desperate voice that made Kakashi laugh and join him. But first he put Obito’s gift around his wrist.

Whilst the snow was falling down and transforming the castle and its grounds into a white winter wonderland, the two boys were spending almost every minute of the holidays together. It was like they wanted to make up for all the time when they weren’t friends yet. Kakashi helped Obito with his homework and Obito came up with all kinds of ideas for their study breaks. One day he wanted to sneak into the girl’s quarters to see what they looked like and if he could find anything interesting, but as soon as he tried to go up the stairs to the Gryffindor girl’s rooms, there was a loud noise. The steps melted together into a long slide and Obito slipped down to the common room again.

‘Seems like the castle knows you’re up to something no good,’ Kakashi laughed when his friend made a dejected face.

And today Obito grabbed Kakashi’s hand in the middle of their studies, dragged him out of the library and yelled, ‘Let’s have a snowball fight!’ Kakashi, although he was surprised by the sudden interruption, didn’t complain and so they left the castle through one of the courtyards where a pathway directly led down to the grounds near the Forbidden Forest. As soon as they reached the wide snow fields, Obito grabbed a hand full of snow, squeezed it into a nearly round ball and threw it into Kakashi’s direction. Since the castle had been really cold today, Kakashi wore his winter cape and scarf. He was very thankful he did because the temperatures were freezing cold. But as soon as the first ball hit him right in the face, he forgot about the temperatures and joined Obito in the game. The two boys exuberantly frolicked through the knee-high snow, trying to hit the other one with their snow balls. At one point Obito pulled out his wand to form a gigantic snowball he let fall down when Kakashi was busy wiping off the snowball that hit him right on the forehead a few seconds ago. With a loud scream, Kakashi was buried under loads of snow. Obito laughed hiss ass off, rolling around on the ground like a child. But when Kakashi didn’t dig himself out of the snow, he got up to his feet to check on his friend. Trenching away the snow from where he assumed Kakashi should be, he didn’t notice that Kakashi already dug himself out and waited on the other side of the little snow hill for his revenge. Obito was halfway done with shovelling the snow away when Kakashi had his own surprise ready.

‘Hey, Obito! I’m here!’ he yelled and Obito looked up in surprise. And then he screamed loudly when a big bird, completely formed of snow, hit him from above. It was shaped like an eagle and Kakashi was very proud of himself for the creation of it. He let the snow animal chase Obito who was running away from it, loudly laughing and also yelling that Kakashi would get a revenge for this soon while the silver haired boy just stood on a higher place of the grounds, watching his friend sidestepping. What a sight that was! The Ravenclaw couldn’t stop laughing about how ridiculous Obito looked when he stumbled and the gigantic snow eagle exploded into millions of snowflakes after hitting him.

When they got tired and their clothes were completely wet from all the snow, the boys slowly made their way back to the castle. In spite of his cold body and his shivering, Kakashi was feeling pure happiness inside. He didn’t remember when the last time was he had so much fun, and when he looked at Obito, his grin seemed to be carved into his face, too.

‘Come on,’ Obito nudged him when they entered the castle and wiped some remaining snow out of his hair. ‘We’ll warm ourselves up at a fireplace. I’m pretty good with fire spells, you know.’

Kakashi just laughed and suggested to go to the Ravenclaw common room. They took off their wet capes and hung them up next to the fireplace to dry, then Kakashi grabbed some blue blankets and two big pillows from the sofas and they sank down on them. Snuggled up into the cosy soft fabrics, Kakashi let the warming fire Obito had lit warm up his shivering body. For a short while, the boys did not speak a word and just listened to the calming crackling of the burning wood.

‘Thank you again for your gift,’ Kakashi mumbled at some point, now looking into Obito’s direction. The other one’s facial expressions were smoothed by the warm fire and his smile looked even more soft now when he said, ‘No need to thank me, Bakashi.’

‘I never got such a personal gift from anyone,’ Kakashi insisted. ‘It means a lot.’

Obito smiled and laid his hand on Kakashi’s shoulder for a moment before he replied, ‘You’re welcome.’

Kakashi’s joyful mood didn’t even vanish when the other students returned to the castle and classes started again. Even when they got tons of homework (‘You need to prepare for your O.W.L.s at best!’ Professor Tsunade said when everyone was complaining), Kakashi’s mood couldn’t be ruined. Because whenever he met Obito in class, in the corridors, during their meals or in their free time, he was reminded that he was having the best time of his life thanks to this boy. And Kakashi was pretty sure Obito was feeling the same. The Ravenclaw noticed that Obito wasn’t as grumpy and rude as before. Sure he was still not being nice to everyone, but his voice wasn’t as harsh as previously and he didn’t yell at anybody because they made him angry with their questions.

Rin did not ask again what happened between the boys. Instead, she told her fellow Ravenclaw friend that she was very happy for him. And she also told him that she was dating Tokara, the guy Kakashi saw her with from Hufflepuff. It made Kakashi happy that she was having someone by her side now and he also told her that.

‘Thank you,’ she replied with a smile. ‘I am so glad you have someone you care for, too.’

‘I do care for you, too.’

Rin chuckled. ‘I know, Kakashi. But I do not mean it in the way you care for me.’ Then she left Kakashi alone with his thoughts on how she meant it if not the way he thought of.


	6. Quidditch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this music while reading (maybe loop it):  
> Fearless Motivation | The Universe In Me | https://youtu.be/mh0dwDLyVXI

‘Kakashi! Guess what!’

Obito grinned like a dog with two tails when he quickly approached the boy who was sitting outside in a courtyard, studying with Rin in the warm spring sun. He was completely out of breath.

‘You’re soon going to tell me anyway, I don’t have to guess,’ Kakashi said with amusement.

‘I’m now a member of the Gryffindor’s Quidditch team!’ His chest swollen with pride, Obito braced his hands against his hips and looked like he had win the House Cup which made Kakashi laugh before he shouted, ‘No way! How come?’

‘He stole _my_ spot!’

Gai tramped out of the castle towards them, looking really angry. His already big eyebrows nearly overlapped his furiously sparkling eyes. Kakashi and Rin exchanged a quick look, both trying to suppress a laughter because Gai was looking ridiculous with his nearly touching eyebrows and fire-shooting look.

‘I didn’t _steal_ your spot, Not-Might,’ Obito gnarled and rolled his eyes. ‘Sarutobi asked me if I want to join since the old Seeker left the team because of a fight with another team member.’

‘Why did Asuma not pick me?! He knew I wanted to be on the team since the first day!’ Gai complained, sounding deeply disappointed and with sagging shoulders.

‘Maybe because you wouldn’t make a good Seeker. You’d be a better Beater, Gai,’ Kakashi explained friendly. ‘You’re too energetic and jittery. A Seeker must keep a cool head during the game and not let himself be bothered by the other players while he’s looking for the Golden Snitch.’

‘Wow,’ Obito mumbled. ‘I didn’t know you’re interested in Quidditch, Kakashi. Do you want to cheer on me in two weeks when the next game is on?’

His friend laughed. ‘You really think I will cheer at the opposing team, especially when you’re playing against my own house?’

With a big pout Obito crossed his arms in front of his chest, but he couldn’t hold it up for longer than three seconds before he smirked and shrugged his head.

‘How unfortunate for Ravenclaw that I’m Seeker now. We’ll defeat you in no time.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ Kakashi grinned and then Gai yelled desperately if anyone cared that he was still here, which made everyone except for himself laugh.

Since Obito had been made Seeker, Kakashi and he barely met because he was busy with training for the upcoming match. Which made Kakashi feeling a bit sad because he really missed the private time with Obito. Instead, he went to the Quidditch pitch from now and then to watch him train. Of course he watched his own team train, too, but he had to admit that it was funnier to watch the Gryffindors’ training. Asuma was a pretty fierce captain who clearly didn’t want to lose against the Ravenclaws. He yelled a lot, ordered around his players and was very focused on coming up with a perfect strategy.

What really bothered Kakashi was that whenever he brought his books with him to read while watching the teams train, he caught himself a lot of times looking out for Obito. It was funny to watch sometimes because Obito turned out to not be the best flyer. On his first day of training he immediately fell of the broom when he wanted to rise and hit the ground with his face. Everyone laughed, including Kakashi on the auditorium. Obito quickly stood up, his head in the colour of a ripe tomato and trying to play it off, but when he nearly fell of his broom again a few minutes afterwards, Asuma called for him and imposed some extra flying lessons for Obito who wasn’t happy about that, but he agreed to practise flying. Which he did in the next few days and when the next training started, he didn’t slip off his broom again.

Kakashi always pinned his nearly obsessed watching out for Obito on his concern about him getting hurt again. That’s why Kakashi always held his wand in his hands during the training sessions, ready to step in when it might get dangerous. Luckily, it never was the case, but one time Obito caught the Snitch and crashed into the auditorium afterwards. He had to go to Madame Chiyo to let his broken hand get fixed.

When the day of the match finally came, Obito didn’t eat a single crumb for breakfast even though Kakashi told him that he needed the energy for the game.

‘I can’t get down something now!’ the Gryffindor complained desperately, kneading his hands and biting his lower lip. To calm him down, Kakashi laid a hand on his and looked at him with encouragement. Thankfully smiling, Obito hugged him afterwards, and it was the first time Kakashi blushed from that. He had already noticed that something in his feelings towards Obito had changed, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Whenever Obito was around him, he felt calm and happy, but when he wasn’t, Kakashi felt a bit lonely, even though other people like Rin were around him. If he could have it his way, he would’ve spent every second of the day with Obito. But wanting Obito for himself was completely childish and Kakashi knew that. He wasn’t the only person in Obito’s life. Since the Uchiha joined the Gryffindor’s team, he had opened up a bit more towards his teammates and Kakashi had seen them sitting together laughing several times now. And of course Kakashi was happy for him making new friends and finally being able to not only be the boy who survived, but also Obito Uchiha, the funny and – Kakashi had to admit that – good-looking young man with the most contagious smile at this school. But somewhere deep inside, he felt something he didn’t want to explore further at the moment because he was scared of it.

‘Obito has changed, huh?’ Rin determined while she was walking next to Kakashi down to the Quidditch pitch. ‘He’s not grumpy anymore, or at least not that much. And he’s laughing. I didn’t see him do that in all the past years.’

Kakashi barely listened to her because his thoughts already were with Obito again. So he just nodded and said that they had to look for some good seats in the first ranks. Soon after they sat down the commentator of the Quidditch matches greeted them all. He was only known by his nickname Killer B and he was one of the employees at the castle. Nobody knew what his actual job was because he only appeared when a Quidditch match was to be due, but sometimes the students heard him rapping in one of the rooms with locked doors next to the caretaker’s office.

‘Today’s game’s coming up and it could get rocky, but first here’s Gryffindor’s captain ‘n’ he’s a bit cocky!’

The crowd laughed and clapped their hands. Everyone loved Killer B’s crazy rapped rhymes during the games.

‘I’m not cocky, Killer B!’ Asuma yelled from down the sand pit, but he sounded amused.

‘Next are the Beaters, well, look at them ladies, could it get any sweeter?’

Gryffindor’s female Beaters entered the field and got cheered by the spectators. Then the Chasers appeared and, as last player from the bravest house, Obito followed, waving his hands a bit shyly towards the watching crowd.

‘And here’s our newbie, his first game today then – oh, please tell me, young man, what was your name again?’

Everyone burst out into laughter and Obito nearly stumbled over his own feet on the field. Kakashi guessed he was very nervous and that introduction clearly didn’t calm him down.

While Killer B was introducing the other players from Ravenclaw and the referee blew the starting whistle, Kakashi couldn’t hold back his excitement. He jumped to his feet when the Quaffle started to be passed along the players and cheered when Ravenclaw scored their first goal after two minutes. During the match Kakashi kept Obito in sight who was slowly flying in circles in save distance above the other players, looking out for the Snitch and trying to put off Ravenclaw’s Seeker Iruka Umino. The younger boy sometimes even followed him for a few minutes when Obito looked like he had spotted the little golden ball. And then, after half an hour, Obito suddenly swished down into the other players, quickly followed by Iruka.

‘Ladies and gents, the Snitch is spotted as Uchiha clearly presents! Followed by Umino, he’s not far away, oh what a great play! Now Sarutobi blocks a Quaffle by Ravenclaw … oh wow, guys, can you believe what you just saw?! Uchiha is racing towards the opponent’s goals, trying to – oh wow, his broomstick now even rolls!’

Kakashi’s heart raced in agitation when Obito stretched out his arm and he loudly cheered on him even though everyone in the Ravenclaw’s corner booed him for doing so. But Kakashi didn’t care. He only had eyes for Obito who was now dashing down towards the ground, still holding out his arm, and then he closed his hand – and crashed into the sand. The whole crowd gasped terrified when the referee blew his whistle and ran towards where Obito hit the ground.

‘Looks like the Snitch’s been caught, but the ground Uchiha clearly forgot!’

Kakashi bit his lip and hoped Obito wasn’t injured badly. The referee talked to Obito who was still lying on the ground. But a few seconds afterwards he sat up, raised his arm victoriously and cried out loudly and joyfully.

‘He indeed caught the Snitch, that means Gryffindor wins – but Uchiha definitely needs a stitch! Oh guys, what a game, I still don’t believe – just look what they achieved! Cheers to Uchiha and to Gryffindor, they truly raised the season’s score!’

Killer B went on with his rap commentaries, but all Kakashi could focus on was Obito. He sat there on the sandy ground, covered in dirt and obviously hurt, but he still laughed and was surrounded by his teammates that rejoiced and called his name again and again. Kakashi could only imagine the happiness Obito must feel this moment and he wanted to congratulate him on the victory as soon as possible.

Obito laid in one of the beds in the Hospital Wing when Kakashi came back from the pitch. Spotting Obito, he almost ran to his bed and hugged him tightly when he did.

‘Ouch! Careful, man, I broke two ribs and my left arm!’

‘Sorry.’ Kakashi felt guilty, but the wide grin on Obito’s face couldn’t even be erased by a few broken bones. He looked like he was the happiest person on the whole planet right now with his smile and his slightly blushed cheeks. ‘Congratulations! You caught the Snitch and also won your very first game. Well done!’

‘Thank you, Kakashi.’ Obito’s expression went a bit softer when he touched Kakashi’s shoulder with his unhurt arm and faced him with this look that made Kakashi’s heart beat faster since a few weeks. ‘I am glad you supported me even though I was on the opponent’s team. I heard you cheering for me when I went after the Snitch.’

‘It was nothing,’ Kakashi shrugged off his words, but Obito shook his head.

‘Don’t say that making a friend feel great is nothing,’ he mumbled. ‘Your backup made me even fly faster. I’m so glad you’re my friend, Kakashi.’

Embarrassed by these words, Kakashi had to look away.

‘Hey. Look at me.’

Suddenly feeling Obito’s warm fingers on his cheek, Kakashi turned around again to look into his friend’s eyes.

‘I truly mean it,’ the Gryffindor whispered, but nobody except for Madame Chiyo and them was in the Hospital Wing. The other team members probably wanted to hit the showers first before checking on their Seeker. ‘You’re the one that made me who I am today by your loyalty, your friendship and your support. So … thank you. A lot.’

Not knowing what to say, Kakashi just cleared his throat and nodded. ‘I’ll let you get some rest now. Hope your bones are gonna be fixed soon.’

‘Madame Chiyo said it’ll only take a couple of minutes so we can celebrate afterwards, but she wants to check on me first. Come to the Gryffindor tower in about an hour. Asuma said you’re invited even though you’re a Ravenclaw, but I convinced him to.’ Obito smiled and waved his friend goodbye when he left the Hospital Wing, now feeling very light-hearted. While he was walking back to his own premises to change his clothes for the party, he touched his bracelet like he did very often lately. Kakashi imagined that Obito was close when he did that.

Oh boy, what was he even doing? Whenever Obito was not around, Kakashi was constantly catching himself thinking of him.

The party at the Gryffindor tower was great. Bawling boys and laughing girls surrounded the Quidditch team in the common room, congratulating them nonstop and yelling their names again and again. A few people asked how Obito was doing after he returned from the Hospital Wing, but he waved them off and said he was fine again. Then he spotted Kakashi on one of the chairs next to the wooden tables under the window and walked towards him. But just before he reached his friend, Asuma joyfully laid an arm around the Uchiha’s shoulders and said, ‘Man, you did great! Awesome first game!’

‘Thank you, Asuma,’ Obito grinned, now looking embarrassed. He clearly wasn’t used yet to all of this physical contact and friendship stuff.

Somebody was turning on some music on an old gramophone and everyone in the room started to dance or move around to it. Kakashi was also dragged into the crowd before he even knew what happened and he felt lost for a moment. But then a girl from Gryffindor grabbed his hands and reeled him around. Kakashi wanted to run away first, but then he saw Obito’s encouraging smile and decided that it couldn’t hurt to have a bit of fun. And when Kakashi saw Obito trying to dance, he nearly burst out into laughing. The boy’s movements were even more clumsy than his own and Kakashi wondered how in hell he had managed to even catch the Snitch. Feeling a warmth rising up in his chest, he excused himself from the girl who looked a little disappointed and stepped towards Obito.

‘You’re doing great!’ he shouted.

‘Liar!’ Obito shouted back, smiling like an idiot. ‘I know I look ridiculous, but it’s funny! Come on!’

Now he grabbed Kakashi’s hands and shook his arms to make him join Obito’s clumsy dance.

Contagioned by all the joy and positive mood around him, Kakashi felt sobered when he left the tower because it was almost bedtime. On his way to his own premises, he couldn’t stop thinking about Obito’s smile and his touches during the party. Whether he liked it or not, Kakashi started to think that he might have a little crush on Obito Uchiha and blushed immediately.

Okay, no. Not a little crush.

A big one.

And it was the best and the worst feeling ever at the same time.


	7. The Room of Requirement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this music while reading:  
> Peter Gundry | Magic Fantasy Music | https://youtu.be/3_cnug2Duac

Spring was already dawning when Kakashi was wandering the corridors at night again. He hadn’t been able to sleep; a lot of thoughts were spinning in his head. Today he had seen Obito talking to a girl from Hufflepuff. Her name was Anko and she gave Obito something Kakashi couldn’t see well from where he was standing and watching them, but she constantly stroked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Obito laughed cheerfully when she handed it to him, but then she asked him something and he looked perplexed. When they split up to go to their next classes, Anko quickly touched Obito’s hand and he looked after her when she nearly dashed around the next corner.

It shouldn’t bother Kakashi that much. In fact, they all had reached an age in which it was pretty normal to get your first crush or even start to date someone. But still it made Kakashi feel all churned up inside to see Obito with a girl that obviously liked him.

Trying to get rid of these stupid thoughts, he decided to take a walk. The quiet night hours were his favourite time to stroll around even though the chances of getting seen by the caretaker were high. But Kakashi had always found a way to hide if necessary.

His journey through the magical castle led him to the seventh floor this time. Kakashi had never been to this floor before, but something made him go there this night. Maybe because his mind was restless, his body was, too, and led him as far away from the Ravenclaw quarters as possible. While thinking of Obito and Anko, he reached a weird looking tapestry and stopped in front of it because the guy on it waved towards him while he was trying not to get crushed by a giant foot from a magical creature. Kakashi took a closer look and almost laughed. Was that a troll in a tutu?

The wizard with the old-fashioned clothes looked at him and asked, ‘What are you doing here at this time, young man? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?’

Kakashi wasn’t used to talk to the paintings and tapestries in Hogwarts. Of course he already watched them talking to other students but he never did that himself. Therefore, he just shrugged and wanted to move on, but the wizard held him back by saying, ‘If you want a place to be alone, I know the perfect one.’

The Ravenclaw boy stopped and looked at the little painted man with interest. Then he spotted a metal sign under the tapestry on which was engraved: _Barnabas the Barmy._

‘Trust me and do exactly as I say. Walk up and down in front of this wall over there three times while thinking of what you truly need right now.’ Barnabas pointed to the opposite wall.

‘What?!’ Kakashi was confused. He already thought of leaving because this guy here clearly matched his name, but then Barnabas added, ‘I wouldn’t mind talking to you from now and then, that’s why I’m telling you this secret. Not many students come up here, so I’m left alone all day long, trying to train these clumsy trolls for ballet. Joey, no, you cannot visit your aunt now, you’ll wake up the whole castle!’

Barnabas jumped out of the tapestry into the next painting and went after the troll that had left it a moment before. Still irritated by this whole situation, Kakashi shook his head in disbelief and wanted to continue walking when he thought of what Barnabas had said earlier. Since the wizard wasn’t here at the moment it couldn’t hurt to try what he told him, could it?

So Kakashi walked up and down next to the wall on the opposite side of the tapestry and thought of a quiet spot to clear his mind. When he stopped, he heard a crunching, then he turned around to the wall and saw – a door!

Now curious about what was behind it, he went there and opened it.

Breathless from the view that was presented to him, Kakashi stepped into the room and the door magically closed itself behind him. In the first few moments Kakashi couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He was standing inside a library. Not the library he was studying in all the time, a smaller one, but with a gigantic orange-coloured plush sofa in the middle and several metres high shelves stuffed with all kinds of books in different shapes and colours. Kakashi walked towards the sofa and wanted to sit down to digest what he just discovered when he almost let himself sink down on a book. Since it had nearly the same colour as the sofa Kakashi didn’t notice it before. The boy grabbed it and read the title while he was sitting down.

 _Flirt Paradise,_ a book with a simple cover showing a man running after a woman on. It sounded like a cheap penny dreadful and Kakashi was about to put it away when he remembered what Barnaby said.

_Think of what you truly need right now._

What was the best way to deal with his whirling thoughts? Distraction! And the best distraction for Kakashi has been reading ever since. Was this some kind of magical room that gave you what you needed at the moment? Kakashi definitely wanted to try it out again in the future to check if that was really the case, but for now he opened the book that the room wanted him to read.

The next time Kakashi looked up, the sun was already rising and sending first rays of light through the windows at both sides of the room. Panicky, the boy jumped to his feet. How many hours did he spend here reading?! In a hurry he left the room and ran down the stairs to the floor that led the shortest way to the Ravenclaw tower. A few students already walked through the corridors but Kakashi ignored the irritated looks on their faces when he flashed past them. He had almost reached the stairs to his house’s tower when he cannoned into someone.

‘Woah, hey!’ It was Iruka Umino. Kakashi didn’t care about the boy at the moment and rushed past him. All he wanted was to get to his class in time. That’s why he breathlessly asked the younger what time it was when he was already halfway up the way to the door with the eagle knob.

‘Twelve minutes before nine, but please watch your step when you …’

Kakashi didn’t even apologise but took two stairs at one and finally reached the door to his common room a few seconds later. Fortunately, the riddle to enter it was very easy this time and it only took him about two minutes to grab his school stuff from the table next to his bed and leave the Ravenclaw’s rooms again. Iruka was still standing at the end of the stairs, eyeing him irritated as he almost flew from the stairs into the corridor and ran to his classroom.

If Kakashi hated one thing it was being late for a test, even if it was not graded and only to check on how much the students learned by now. And the Professor was known for being hard on you when you failed the ungraded tests. And Kakashi did not want to be late when the test was in his most hated subject. He definitely needed all of the time to get the answers written down.

Just in time and completely out of breath he reached the classroom for Potions. Professor Orochimaru, a very pale-skinned man with black hair and unnatural yellow eyes which he always covered in purple make-up for some reason was already heading out the surveys.

‘Ah, Mr Hatake. I see you still decided to grace us with your presence.’ His hissing voice sounded amused, but also blaming.

‘Sorry, Professor.’ Kakashi slumped down on his seat next to Rin who was looking at him in concern. But now definitely wasn’t the time to tell her what he discovered. Instead, he took the sheet his Professor gave him and started to read.

About half an hour later the lack of sleep made itself felt and Kakashi could barely concentrate on the spidery written questions on the parchment. His head almost hit the table when he fell asleep for a few seconds and he decided to surrender. Before Professor Orochimaru could laugh about his bad answers it would be better to write nothing down at all for the last three questions. Slowly getting up to hold his balance, Kakashi grabbed the parchment with his answers and couldn’t hold back a deep yawn when he was walking through the other student’s tables to where the Professor was sitting. He raised his eyebrows when Kakashi handed him over his test and faltered out of the classroom afterwards. It would be best to finally get some sleep. And that’s what Kakashi did after he reached his quarters.

Someone poked him and Kakashi opened his eyes. One of his roommates asked if he was okay. Kakashi nodded drowsily and held back a yawn. The clock on his bed stand told him it was already ten past four in the afternoon. He slept for nearly six hours!

Obito was sitting on the stairs in front of the door to the common room when Kakashi left the Ravenclaw. Surprised to see him there, Kakashi asked, ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I was worried that you weren’t in Slug Queen’s class today and decided to check on you. Since that stupid eagle knob didn’t let me enter, I had to wait for you out here.’

‘But classes aren’t over yet!’ Kakashi revolted.

‘Says the one who has been sleeping all day as it seems,’ Obito retorted and a grin appeared on his face. ‘And I don’t care about the lessons more than about you. Are you alright?’

His words sounded secondarily, but Kakashi still blushed. It meant a lot that Obito cared so much for him that he bunked off class to check on him.

‘I have to show you something. Can we meet at the library after dinner?’ Kakashi asked directly.

His friend was surprised but still agreed. ‘Sure, but –’

‘Now I really have to check on something first. See you later!’ With these words Kakashi left Obito and walked to where he spent the whole last night. This time he wished for a place to hide something, that was why he also brought a little something along. It was only an old quill that was broken, but Kakashi wanted to try if he could leave something in that room and pick it up again another time.

The door appeared when he had passed the wall three times and he entered it quickly. Barnabas greeted him joyfully, but all Kakashi did was wave quickly into his direction before he entered the room. It was a big storage room this time with all kinds of left items. Old cupboards, desks, chairs and even big cabinets were standing around, along with a lot of other stuff. Kakashi figured that he wasn’t the first one to use this room and went around to examine what it had to offer this time. He hid his quill in an old birch cupboard and left then. Obito would be very surprised about Kakashi’s discovery, that was for sure. And Kakashi couldn’t wait to show him.

But Obito didn’t appear in the Great Hall for dinner. Kakashi’s warning bells ringed immediately because usually Obito didn’t skip a single of their meetings without a good reason. Even though Kakashi didn’t eat a single meal today and was very hungry, he started to ask around for Obito. But unfortunately, nobody had seen him, not even Gai – and Gai always seemed to know everything that was going on in this castle. So Kakashi decided to search for Obito on his own. The Ravenclaw also asked a Gryffindor if they could check their rooms for him, but Obito wasn’t there.

Kakashi also searched the secret ledge where they met at the beginning of their friendship. When Obito wasn’t there either, the silver haired boy already turned around to leave the balcony but then he heard someone screaming. Alarmed, Kakashi looked down on the lake and saw someone standing at the riverside. From up where he was standing, Kakashi couldn’t quite tell what the person down there was doing, but it looked like they were … falling! What was happening at the lake?

A spontaneous idea came to Kakashi’s mind and he quickly checked if someone else was around or able to see him. Then he transformed into a wolf and his hearing got better immediately.

‘Go away!’

That was Obito’s voice, there was no doubt to that. And Kakashi didn’t even have to hear another word. He transformed back in the blink of an eye and started running as fast as he could for the second time this day. Fortunately, the next exit to the grounds wasn’t far away and so Kakashi ran out of the castle, choosing the fastest path down to the lake. While approaching the spot he saw Obito a few minutes ago, he thought about what could have happened and hoped his friend was alright. When he came around a big rock and finally saw the lake, Obito had moved away a few metres up the hill, holding his wand up in defence before his body. And now Kakashi was also able to see why: A mummed person was attacking him from not far away. When a spell nearly hit Obito he blocked it, but stumbled.

That was the moment Kakashi transformed into a wolf again without further thinking. He didn’t care if one of the two wizards had seen him doing so or if someone was watching the scenery from the castle, but his friend was in danger and he had to do something quickly. Since Kakashi was much stronger as a wolf, he might be able to attack the mummed person easier. With a loud howl, he dashed towards Obito’s attacker and threw them off their feet. A loud moaning sounded from under the hood and Kakashi didn’t hesitate digging his claws and fangs into the person’s arms and shoulder. Trying to tug the hood from the head to see who was beneath it, Kakashi growled and kept his victim down to the ground with his weight. He wanted to yell at Obito that he should run but then remembered that he was an animal and not able to talk. So he just turned his head and barked at Obito, hoping the boy would get what he was trying to tell him. But that two seconds were enough for his victim to cast a spell that threw Kakashi up into the air and a few metres over the lake. With a loud splashing, he plunged into the cold water and gasped for air when he broke through the surface.

Kakashi spit out water and turned around to face the riverside. To his relief, Obito mad use of the opportunity Kakashi’s attack gave him and acted himself now. The mummed person was hit by one of Obito’s spells and yelled in pain, then decided to run. For one second, Obito already moved a few steps into the direction the other guy had taken, but then he glanced into Kakashi’s direction and saw that the wolf was in need. Kakashi was trying to swim, but all his energy had suddenly left him and he could barely hold up his head above the water.

‘Hold on!’ he heard Obito screaming when suddenly the world around him was darkening. He barely felt someone grabbing him before everything went black.

Soft strokes woke him up and he blinked a few times, then Kakashi’s vision was clear again. With every bone in his body aching, he lifted his head and looked up into a worried face that was very familiar to him.

‘Thank Merlin you made it out alive,’ Obito mumbled in relief and stopped stroking Kakashi’s back. ‘I don’t know if you can understand me, but I wanted to thank you for saving me.’

Kakashi realised now that he was still a wolf. But he already felt the urge to transform back because there wasn’t much magical power left in his body. Whatever the spell was that the mummed person casted on him, it definitely had weakened Kakashi a lot. That’s why he hadn’t been able to swim on his own anymore. But still he didn’t transform back which could only mean that the transformation wasn’t only depending on the magical power left, but also on willpower.

He freed himself from Obito’s arms and stood up. His legs were shaking and he could barely walk, but still he didn’t want his friend to see that it was him. But then he fell down to the ground again and Obito was next to him the second afterwards.

‘You’re hurt! Damn, if I only knew what is wrong …’

Kakashi felt his friend’s hands examining him, possibly for wounds and he tried again to resist his body’s bad urging to transform back. Every inch was already burning like he was set on fire, but still he didn’t want to give in. Not now while Obito was still around.

But then, only a few seconds later, he reached a point where he couldn’t resist anymore. His whole body felt like it was ripped apart, and then he felt his bones moving. A heartbeat later Kakashi had back his human form and heard a loud gasp next to him.

‘Ka- … Kakashi?’

The Ravenclaw opened his eyes and saw Obito’s worried but also surprised face above him. Slowly Kakashi sat up and realised he had lost a few of his clothes during his painful transformation. One of his pant legs was ripped apart, his shoes were completely shredded, only laying around in pieces on the dirt ground. Kakashi’s shirt was also damaged and had some holes. When he carefully touched his face he also noticed that his mask was also torn to shreds at some patches. The elastic band was barely holding it together anymore.

‘Kakashi? Are you alright?’ The Gryffindor’s voice was now sounding alarmed and he turned Kakashi’s head around so he had to face him directly.

‘Tired …’ Kakashi mumbled, feeling his body aching for rest.

‘I’ll take you to Madame Chiyo,’ Obito said severely, but Kakashi promptly insisted.

‘No,’ he coughed. ‘She mustn’t know that I’m an Animagus.’

‘Who cares about that now? You’re injured!’

‘I’m fine.’ Kakashi shook his head vehemently. ‘I think a weakening spell hit me. I just need some sleep.’ And then he remembered that he wanted to show Obito what he had discovered last night. ‘Can you take me to the seventh floor?’

Obito looked at him like Kakashi went insane. But when he saw the pleading look on Kakashi’s face, he sighed and helped Kakashi get up on his feet. Then the two boys slowly walked back to the castle, Kakashi leaning onto Obito like a potato bag. The silver haired boy asked if Obito was fine, but the Gryffindor just put his friend off and said he should save his energy for the long walk to the seventh floor. On their way up there, Kakashi didn’t say anything, neither did Obito. Both were lost in their own thoughts and when they finally reached the spot Kakashi wanted to go, Barnabas was greeting them and asked, ‘You already brought a friend along? How nice!’

Since Kakashi didn’t have the will or power left to talk to the man on the tapestry now, he just told Obito quickly what they had to do because he was not able to walk up and down on his own. Ignoring the confused look on his friend’s face, Kakashi thought of a big comfortable bed in a quiet environment and told Obito to think of the same.

The door appeared immediately after they finished slowly walking up and down three times and Kakashi watched with amusement how Obito’s jaw dropped. Then he indicated him to open the door and Obito did.

‘Wow!’ A loud gasp of surprise came from Obito when they entered the room. It didn’t contain much. A big canopy bed was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by some comfy looking beanbags and piles of books. The whole room looked like a big cosy reading corner to also rest whenever you wanted to.

‘How is this possible?’ Obito asked when they walked towards the bed. Kakashi didn’t give him an answer, instead let himself fall over onto the bed and buried his face and body in the fluffy blankets and pillows. Oh yes, this was exactly what he needed right now!

‘I’ll explain later,’ he mumbled and barely could hold his eyes open. Kakashi didn’t hear Obito’s words anymore when he felt sleep overwhelming him.


	8. Kakashi and Obito

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while reading (maybe loop it):  
> Pearl Harbour Suite (Main Theme) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFXOQkcRtH4

When Kakashi opened his eyes, he didn’t know where he was for a moment. But then he saw Obito sitting on the edge of the bed, staring out of the window this room also had created. The night sky was beautiful and moonlight flowing in. Hovering dust made the whole scenery look so calm and beautiful that Kakashi couldn’t even stop looking at Obito who was surrounded by that sparkling dust. His friend didn’t seem to notice he was awake and Kakashi stayed silent because he wanted to look at him for a little while longer without him knowing. His heart felt warm and bumped in his chest a lot faster than usual. If Kakashi reached out his hand he could’ve touched Obito’s hands on which he was supporting himself on to sit in bed. But it seemed like Obito felt Kakashi’s looks on him because he slowly turned around his head and smiled when their eyes met.

‘Hey, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?’ he asked quietly, almost whispering like he didn’t want to destroy the mood.

‘I think I never slept better,’ Kakashi mumbled and noticed he still had his shredded mask on. One second he thought about repairing it with his wand, but he wasn’t sure if he even took it with him when they left the riverside. So he just completely ripped it off and started to laugh when he saw Obito’s astonished face that looked like he just experienced a holy appearance.

‘What?’ Kakashi grinned but he felt a bit uncomfortable, also embarrassed. Not many people had seen him without his mask. ‘You always wanted to know what I’m hiding under that mask, didn’t you? Well, seems like you finally found out.’

A big grin appeared on Obito’s face and he turned around, now sitting on his knees. But then his grin disappeared and he just mildly smiled at Kakashi with a softer face expression. ‘I don’t think you ever needed that mask, Kakashi. You’re beautiful. And … your smile …’

Kakashi’s cheeks felt hot and he knew he was blushing hardly, but in this moment he didn’t care. Seeing his friend looking at him like he was the happiest young man in the world, Kakashi realised he now had everything he ever wanted. One of his hands automatically raised before he could think about it – it was the hand with the bracelet on the wrist – and laid down on Obito’s. For a few heartbeats long, the two boys just looked at each other. In Obito’s nearly black-coloured eyes Kakashi saw a warmth making him feel all good and comfortable. No one ever gave him this feeling before. Could this be what Rin meant by caring for somebody in another way than he cared for her? In fact, she had been right, it felt completely different, but also much, much better. Kakashi sat up in bed, lowering his hand. Then the two boys sat there, only a few inches away, staring at each other like they saw the other one for the very first time – and in some way, they actually did. Sitting there, realising he felt something more intense for Obito than before, Kakashi even forgot to breathe for a moment.

All of a sudden Obito said, wrinkling his nose, ‘You still smell like a wet dog.’

Bewildered by that, Kakashi felt his jaw dropping a little, but then he started to laugh. ‘You really know how to ruin the mood, Obito Uchiha.’

‘I wasn’t finished yet,’ Obito pouted with fake indignation but also with a smile. ‘And you know what?’ He slowly approached a little bit more towards Kakashi and their noses almost touched. ‘I don’t want to kiss a boy that smells like a wet dog.’

For one moment, everything stopped, including Kakashi’s heart. When it started to beat again, the rhythm was choppy like it was doing somersaults between the beats. Did Obito really just talk about kissing him or was he dreaming? But wait, he said something about _not_ kissing him … Kakashi’s thoughts where whirling around in his head like a tornado and he wasn’t able to think straight, not even for one little second.

All at once, Obito’s smile widened and he raised a hand to touch Kakashi’s cheek. ‘But,’ he continued slowly, looking at Kakashi with a soft warmth in his eyes, ‘since the boy that smells like a wet dog also happens to be my best friend and saved my life today, I’ll make an exception.’

Kakashi wasn’t able to move and so he just watched Obito bridging the little gap that was left between their faces and closed his eyes when he felt his friend’s warm lips on his own. A heartbeat later Kakashi softly kissed him back, and the tingling he felt on his lips went further down to the rest of his body, making him feel like he was bathing in fizzy warm water during a cold winter’s day.

After a few seconds or an eternity, Kakashi couldn’t tell, they moved apart and the silver haired boy opened his eyes just to look into the intensely beautiful eyes of his best friend.

‘Thank you for saving me today,’ Obito whispered and placed a soft and very light kiss on Kakashi’s nose tip. ‘You risked your life for me. No one else would’ve done that.’

‘Isn’t that what friends do?’ Kakashi replied with a smile but still breathless and Obito chuckled.

‘More like lovers, don’t you think?’ he whispered, making Kakashi blush again. ‘And because we’re already talking about it now … I guess returning my kiss means you like me this way, too?’

Happily smiling, Kakashi nervously scratched his neck, but nodded. Talking about feelings still wasn’t his kind of thing. Yet he tried and mumbled, ‘Yeah, I guess so. I have never felt anything like this before so I am still not sure, but … yes. I think I like you. A lot.’

‘And I like _you,_ Bakashi.’

‘Since when are we doing nicknames?’ Kakashi grinned and received a loud laughter, then Obito laid his hands around Kakashi’s neck and started to kiss him again, mumbling ‘I love you’ against his lips.

Kakashi fell asleep in Obito’s arms at some point this night. While they kissed, Obito had pushed Kakashi down on the bed and they cuddled for a while, talked and laughed and also kissed again and again like they had to make up for something they missed before. At this point, none of the boys knew it would all change soon and their worlds would be turned completely upside down.

‘Good morning,’ Obito whispered into Kakashi’s ear and the silver haired boy opened his eyes. It was already morning, but still Kakashi wasn’t ready to get up. He wanted to lay in Obito’s arms for a little while longer, but the Uchiha softly pushed him away and stood up.

‘Thank Merlin it’s Saturday and we won’t miss school,’ he said while he was stretching his muscles. ‘But I think you need a shower and I should go back to the riverside. We left some traces there.’

‘We should immediately go and talk to Headmaster Namikaze about the attack,’ Kakashi insisted. ‘Do you have an idea who the attacker was? Does anyone want to harm you?’

‘Not that I know of. But fine, we will go and talk to him. After you took a shower,’ the Gryffindor added with a big grin. ‘And you should fix your mask. Here.’ He threw Kakashi’s wand towards the boy on the bed and Kakashi looked at him reproachfully.

‘You could’ve gave it to me earlier! I was worried that I lost it yesterday.’ Kakashi waved it towards the pieces of his mask that were laying around on the bed and they merged together so Kakashi could put the now fixed mask on again. Furthermore, he also fixed his pants. But he definitely needed new shoes.

‘Well, you have it now, don’t you? Let’s go.’ Obito grabbed Kakashi’s hands and dragged him out of bed and sweepingly onto his feet. Kakashi stumbled against Obito when he was trying to adopt his balance.

‘Easy, Bakashi,’ he grinned.

‘Hey, you were the one who pulled me out of this cosy bed!’ Kakashi complained. Then he silently added, ‘Do we … um, you know … I mean, are we … you and Anko …’

‘I love it when you’re shy, Kakashi,’ Obito chuckled and pulled him closer to kiss him. ‘Anko just told me that she likes me, but I do not return her feelings as you clearly noticed last night.’ He grinned. ‘However, if you wanted to ask if we should show everyone we’re lovers now – I’m fine with that if you are.’ Saying this, he grabbed Kakashi’s hand and they walked out of the room. On their way to the Ravenclaw tower Kakashi told Obito how he discovered the secret room and what he had found out about it yet. A few students threw some irritated looks into their direction while they were still holding hands while they walked through the corridors. At first, Kakashi felt very uneasy, but then he said to himself that there was nothing wrong with holding your lover’s hand and ignored the looks from the others. Obito’s warm hand in his was all that mattered to him.

While Kakashi took a shower that made him feel fresh and relaxed afterwards, Obito waited in the Ravenclaw’s common room where they met Rin. She had been sitting at a table to do some homework when the boys entered the room. By the look she gave them she was very happy about what she saw. And when Kakashi returned with fresh clothes, Rin and Obito were laughing together. The sight of Obito laughing with someone else was so great to see that Kakashi just stood at the entrance to the room and watched them before he approached to his friends.

‘You look a lot better – I mean, even more than usual,’ Obito determined when Kakashi let himself sink down next to him, taking his hand to softly stroke over its back which felt incredibly good and Kakashi couldn’t help smiling over his friend’s gesture.

‘So … you two, huh?’ Rin giggled a little when both of the boys immediately turned red. ‘I knew it from the moment I saw Kakashi sitting at your table at the beginning of the school year.’

‘Wait, you’re telling me you knew we loved each other even before I did?!’ Obito said and burst out into laughter. ‘You’re so funny, Rin! How come we have never talked before?’

‘Remember why you avoided people?’ Kakashi teased him, but when he saw a dark flickering in Obito’s eyes for a moment, he immediately regretted saying what obviously hurt his boyfriend. To appease his words, he stroked over Obito’s arm and gained himself a thankful smile.

‘Shall we all study together then for our O.W.L.s?’ Rin asked and both boys agreed to her suggestion.

Headmaster Namikaze wasn’t very pleased when they told him about the encounter at the lake. To Kakashi’s relief, Obito didn’t mention him being an Animagus. The Gryffindor just described that Kakashi hurried to help him and that they beat the attacker together.

‘Is there anyone out there who wants to harm you, Obito?’ Professor Namikaze asked with deep worry lines on his face.

‘I don’t know, sir.’ Obito just shrugged and added, ‘not that I’m aware of.’

‘Please don’t go anywhere on your own if not absolutely necessary,’ the headmaster imposed. ‘You and Kakashi are good friends, right? Then please guide Obito, Kakashi, would you? And if anything strange happens again, please inform me immediately.’

Thankfully, the two boys nodded and left the headmaster’s office. Now they had another reason to spend their time together and both of them were totally fine with it. Still, Kakashi was a bit worried about Obito who played the whole situation off and said that it must have been a mistake and the attacker didn’t mean to attack Obito but someone else. That was a low excuse and Kakashi didn’t believe his boyfriend for a single second, but he let the topic rest because he knew that Obito didn’t want to talk about it any further. Yet he watched out for uncommon people in the castle or whenever they went outside – just in case. 

Barnabas told Kakashi and Obito more about the secret room on the opposite wall of his tapestry. It was called The Room of Requirement and had been in use for Hogwarts residents in needs for generations. Whatever you needed most the moment you walked by – the room was likely to give it to you. And of course the two boys made use of this room. Whenever they needed some private time to cuddle or share some passionate kisses, they went in there because wherever you were in Hogwarts, someone was always around to watch and neither Obito or Kakashi were comfortable with being seen while sharing some endearments. Holding hands in public was fine for both of them though, but not more yet.

When Gai heard of the new couple, he dragged Kakashi into a quiet corner of the castle and sternly delivered him a lecture.

‘What were you thinking, Kakashi?! You cannot just get yourself a boyfriend like Obito Uchiha. That boy is pure poison!’ Kakashi didn’t even get the opportunity to defend himself because Gai was talking his head off. ‘I mean, look at him! Yes, he’s not as grumpy and rude as before, I have to admit that, but he’s still far from being nice and a good acquaintance. Obito is stubborn, haughty, a big braggart and –’

‘And none of your business, Gai,’ Kakashi angrily interrupted and turned around on his heels to walk away quickly.

‘You’ll see into which trouble he’ll get you!’ Gai shouted after him.

Whilst Gai kept appealing to his conscience whenever he had the opportunity to, Kakashi still didn’t talk to Obito about this. Gai was very unfair and had some personal reasons not to like Obito, for example because he didn’t get the spot in the Quidditch team, but he wouldn’t pick a real quarrel with Obito at any time – he was scared of the Uchiha, that was for sure, even though he didn’t talk nicely behind his back about him. But Obito didn’t need to be bothered with stupid Gai so Kakashi remained silent.

Being the boyfriend of the boy who survived wasn’t easy. Although Kakashi had never been happier in his life than with Obito, there was a constant tension whenever the two boys passed other students. A lot of them were happy for them, especially the girls giggled a lot, but not everyone was fine with their relationship. A lot of disapproving looks followed them wherever they went. Kakashi learnt to ignore them, but they were always there, no matter how hard he tried not to pay attention to them.

And in one evening, everything escalated.

It was an evening three weeks before their first O.W.L. exam. Kakashi and Obito sat together on a blanket next to the lake, studying like in every other free second these days. Rin and her boyfriend wanted to study inside even though the weather was beautiful and warm. Obito conspiratorially whispered to Kakashi that they surely wanted some time for a quick arrangement. The Ravenclaw felt very uneasy about Obito saying this. He never thought about what Rin and Tokara were doing in their free time because it didn’t occur to him they could do something else than studying. But since Obito now mentioned it, he immediately thought of what he and Obito could do when they were alone. Not that they never were doing something like that – the Room of Requirement was their private place where they already went beyond kissing, but not much. Everything was still new and exciting for Kakashi and he was very pleased with only cuddling and kissing Obito, being near him and spending time with his love.

While they were enjoying the setting sun, Kisame Hoshigaki and his friends were approaching. When Kakashi first noticed them Obito had already laid his quill away, watching the other students’ approach with narrowed eyes and puckered lips.

‘Hey, look who we have here!’ Kisame yelled and pointed into their direction. ‘The two lovebirds!’ The two guys accompanying him laughed and Kakashi now also put away his parchment and quill with a bad feeling in his stomach.

‘Seems like you finally found someone who you can slate, Uchiha,’ Kisame laughed and grinned sardonically. ‘I bet Hatake is a submissive puppy.’

‘Take that back!’ Obito grunted and jumped to his feet before Kakashi could even hold him back.

‘Why? Am I not allowed to say the truth?’

‘I won’t say it again, Hoshigaki,’ the Gryffindor now snapped, his hands already clenched to fists.

‘Obito, please,’ Kakashi begged and grabbed his wrist. ‘He just wants to bug us. Leave him be, he doesn’t even deserve your attention.’

‘Oooooh! Now the puppy speaks!’ Kisame laughed and smirked nastily. ‘I thought your mask was on your face for a reason.’

Faster than Kakashi could react, Obito had already rushed towards Kisame and grabbed him at his collar. The seventh-year Slytherin was bigger than Obito but it didn’t seem to bother him a single moment. With a fierce look he bared his teeth and grunted, ‘You filthy little brat, go back to your mouldy old shack in the basements and bother someone else. And you won’t speak to my boyfriend in that way ever again, do you understand me?’

But the older boy just laughed and pushed Obito away with a harsh shove. ‘You think you can tell _me_ what to do, Uchiha? You’re just a little loudmouth, all bark but no bite. I bet you wouldn’t even stand a chance against me in a duel.’

That seemed to trigger Obito completely now. With a quick move he pulled out his wand and imminently held it in front of Kisame’s face.

‘Wanna try?’ he yelled furiously, and now Kakashi quickly stood up to stop this madness.

‘Both of you, stop it!’ he commanded, but none of the boys listened to him. The first spells were already spoken out loud and both Kisame and Obito stepped to the side to avoid being hit. Kakashi pulled out his own wand but couldn’t do anything because one of Kisame’s friends was suddenly grabbing his wrists and pulled his arms behind his back.

‘Hey! Let me go!’ Kakashi yelled and tried to release himself but with no results. The Slytherin boy just laughed and even clutched Kakashi’s hands harder. All the Ravenclaw could do was helplessly watching the duel between Obito and Kisame. There weren’t many students around that cared about this fight because it happened from now and then between some people. Only a few quickly glanced in their direction, then continued with what they were doing.

 _‘Expelliarmus!’_ Obito yelled and Kisame’s wand was flung through the air before it landed a few metres behind him in the grass. The tall boy just laughed and said, ‘What a weak spell, Uchiha! Is that the only one you’re able to let off? You’re weaker than I already thought you were!’

Kisame’s teasing clearly had the effect he wanted it to have: Obito ran towards him and pushed him down to the ground, his clenched fist raised into the air, ready to beat Kisame’s face.

‘Obito, _stop!’_ Kakashi screamed and tried to escape again, but the Slytherin didn’t let go of him.

‘Now we’re getting there,’ Kisame grinned and laughed again. ‘I bet you’re great in bed with all your energy! Uuuh!’

Little drops of blood flew through the air when Obito’s knuckles hit the Slytherin’s nose.

‘HEY! STOP THAT!’ A loud and infuriated voice reached Kakashi’s ears and he thanked Merlin for headmaster Namikaze’s daily evening walk around the grounds. Furiously waving his hands, the young headmaster approached the fighting boys quickly and pulled them apart, clenching his fingers into their shoulders.

‘What do you think you’re two doing there, eh?!’ he barked and Kakashi never had seen him so angry before. His lips were only a thin line and his usually friendly eyes were sparkling madly. Not giving the boys the opportunity to defend themselves, he yelled, ‘You two are definitely in trouble now. Come with me!’

He already started to drag them towards the castle when he turned around again to say, ‘And you there. Let go of Mr Hatake, do you hear me? Damn it, you come along, too! All of you – my office – _now.’_


	9. When Obito kissed Kakashi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I don't have the time to upload a chapter tomorrow, here's the new one a bit earlier :)
> 
> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while listening (maybe loop it):  
> Tony Anderson | Finding Your Heart | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fbBxegAN-g

‘I don’t care who of you started the fight – I don’t allow violence anywhere on the grounds!’

Headmaster Namikaze raged through his office with the five boys standing in front of him, his eyes narrowed and with real anger in his voice. Even though Kakashi didn’t do anything wrong, he felt very uneasy because the usually calm and funny man was now very mad – for a good reason.

‘If Hoshigaki wouldn’t be such a –’

‘Mr Uchiha!’ Professor Namikaze interrupted harshly. ‘I do not care who teased the other one. You both fired magic against each other and you know magical duels between students outside of class are against the rules, no matter for what reason.’

Embarrassed, Obito bit his lip and turned away.

‘I don’t know exactly what happened and who of you started it, therefore you will all do impositions.’

Enervated moaning sounded through the room, then Obito suddenly stepped in. ‘Professor Namikaze, you cannot punish Kakashi because he wanted to stop the fight.’

‘Is that true?’ the blond man asked and leant against his desk, looking at Kakashi closely. When Kakashi didn’t say anything, Obito poked him with his elbow to make him defend himself. But he didn’t say a word because if he would’ve stepped in earlier he could’ve avoided all of this. It was only right for him to be punished, too.

‘Sir, please,’ Obito continued when his boyfriend remained silent, now sounding a little desperate. ‘If you’ll still let him do impositions, I’ll be doing his instead of him.’

‘Woah, Uchiha, so you’re a saint now or what?’ Kisame sneered but immediately shut up when he saw Professor Namikaze’s warning look.

‘Mr Hoshigaki, I do not allow disputes here now, so please refrain from starting them. But since you’re very serious about this, Mr Uchiha, I’ll give you Mr Hatakes impositions then.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘You may all leave my office now. I’ll let you know about the impositions as soon as I’ve come up with them. But be warned: If I ever see any of you fight against some other student again, banishment is the next step.’

Heads lowered and shoulders hanging, Obito and Kakashi left the office first, followed by the Slytherins who already started to complain about the punishment before they even stepped into the corridor. Kisame grabbed Obito’s collar when they were out of the headmaster’s sight and hissed, ‘I’m not done with you yet, gay motherfucker!’

Laughing, the three Slytherins walked away.

‘Are you alright?’ Kakashi asked when they were finally alone in the corridor.

‘I’m just worried about you, Kakashi,’ Obito mumbled, but there was an angry undertone in his voice. ‘What if those bullies come after you when I’m not around?’

Now Kakashi couldn’t help but smile a little about the protectiveness of his boyfriend. ‘I know a defence spell or two, so don’t worry. But you need to learn not to let yourself get provoked by those idiots.’

‘Hoshigaki is the biggest asshole in this school,’ Obito grunted. ‘The other two are just idiots who follow him, but they wouldn’t dare to attack us when their self-claimed leader is not around. So just watch out when they’re near, okay?’

‘I will.’ The Ravenclaw stepped closer towards Obito and took his hand, then pulled down his mask to place a soft kiss on the Gryffindor’s warm lips. ‘And thank you for taking my impositions. You didn’t need to do that.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Obito mumbled and pulled him to the wall behind him to continue the kiss. When they heard footsteps, they quickly separated.

‘It’s just me,’ Professor Namikaze said with a smile. All the anger and austerity from a few minutes ago were gone and his face was soft and friendly like always when he passed them by, quickly waving a hand for goodbye. ‘Don’t feel disturbed by me, you two.’

Both of them blushed and Obito started to scratch his neck, avoiding the headmaster’s look which made Kakashi chuckle a little.

‘What?’ Obito asked when the headmaster was out of sight and Kakashi grinned.

‘You look adorable when you’re embarrassed, do you know that?’ the silver haired boy asked warmly.

‘I’m not cute!’ Obito snapped, but the smile on his face revealed his true feelings.

The O.W.L.s approached quicker than everyone wanted them to, but there was no escape. On the first day, Kakashi was very nervous because he had a bad dream about the Potions exam. In his dream, Professor Orochimaru transformed into a giant snake, poisoning every student with a bite so they wouldn’t pass his exam. When he told Obito about that dream at breakfast, the Gryffindor started laughing and said, ‘That would fit him so much! I mean, did you never think his eyes look like the eyes of a snake? It’s creepy.’

‘Stop that!’ Rin cautioned them, but the corners of her mouth quivered a little like she was holding back a laugh. ‘Both of you will be doing fine in the exam today.’

‘Thanks, Rin,’ Obito replied. ‘My stomach is telling me the opposite right now, but I’ll guess you’re smarter than it. At least I hope so.’

When they headed for the Potions classroom for the first exam of this week, Kakashi took Obito’s hand and squeezed it. With a grateful look on his face, his boyfriend smiled at him and they continued walking hand in hand to the dungeons.

During the exam, Kakashi secretly glanced into Obito’s direction to check how he was doing with the questions, but the Gryffindor was very focused on his parchment and didn’t lay down his quill for one second. So Kakashi guessed he was doing well and continued with his own exam that wasn’t as hard as he imagined it. After the questions they had also to prepare a potion on which Professor Orochimaru gave them a little sheet with instructions. Kakashi’s potion started to fume at one point and he thought he already messed up, but then he remembered what Rin told him to do if he threw too much of an ingredient into the cauldron. So he did like she taught him and waved his wand to save the potion. After the thick liquid inside went grass green, he leant back in satisfaction and raised his hand to show the professor that he was done with the exam and Professor Orochimaru dismissed him.

To Kakashi’s surprise, the others exam this week went well too. Studying with Rin and Obito definitely paid off and when he sank down on the Ravenclaw sofa after his last exam, he sighed in relief and closed his eyes to relax a bit. Not long after he entered the room himself, he heard Rin and Obito coming in.

‘What? I thought the correct answer was a Bezoar! Damn it!’ Obito was throwing his hands up in horror while Rin was laughing on this behaviour.

‘Heya, how were you two doing?’ Kakashi asked when they let themselves sink down to his left and right side. Subsequently, they started talking about the O.W.L.s until it was time for dinner.

After the last exam at the end of the week, Kakashi took a nap. He was very exhausted because Professor Yahiko’s test had been more difficult than he thought and he hoped that he would pass it because he usually wasn’t bad in Defence Against the Dark Arts at all. So why did the Professor make the exam so hard? It almost seemed like he was trying to make it as difficult as possible – for whatever reason.

‘Hey, Kakashi.’ Jiraiya was sitting in the common room when Kakashi came out of the quarters after his rest. ‘How was your last day of the O.W.L.s?’

‘Hello, Professor. It went well, thank you, but Professor Yahiko made his exam a bit difficult ...’

Talking to Jiraiya made Kakashi feel good and they laughed a lot while the afternoon was passing by. At some point, Jiraiya said to his student, ‘I see you hanging around with Obito Uchiha a lot lately. It’s great to see you made a new friend.’

‘Yeah, he’s a nice guy,’ Kakashi replied and the older man started to laugh all of a sudden. Irritated, Kakashi raised his eyebrows.

‘Having people around who care about you is important,’ Jiraiya now said, his eyes becoming elated like he was thinking about a specific person. Only one second later, that expression was gone and he looked at Kakashi with a grin. ‘Although it appears to me that you two are more than friends, or am I wrong?’

‘I’d rather not talk about that, Professor,’ Kakashi mumbled, feeling his cheeks getting hot.

‘That’s fine, I wouldn’t talk to an old guy about intimate relationships either,’ he chuckled and blinked conspiratorially. ‘But I have some advice for you: Read about it first before you jump into it!’

Now Kakashi was definitely confused. What the heck was Jiraiya talking about?

‘Here. Take this.’ The teacher pulled out a book of his bag on the floor and handed it over to Kakashi who was looking at it for a second before he burst out into laughter. And vice versa, now Jiraiya was the one who was irritated. ‘What’s so funny?’ he asked his student.

‘I already know this book,’ Kakashi replied. ‘I found it somewhere in the castle and read it through in one night.’

Impressed by that, Jiraiya nodded. ‘I didn’t know this genre of literature is sought after in this old musty castle! You young people clearly have a good taste.’

‘But sir … how is this book supposed to help me …?’

‘There will be more books soon,’ the elder one said. ‘I’m already planning out the plot of –’

‘Wait!’ Kakashi interrupted him, suddenly shocked. _‘You_ wrote that book?!’

Mischievously grinning, Jiraiya leant back on the sofa and looked at Kakashi like he had won the lottery. ‘Yes, young man, and I hope you liked what you read that night.’

‘Wow,’ the silver haired boy mumbled and paused for a moment before he continued, ‘I really liked the story, but I still don’t know why it needed so much … explicit scenes.’

Obviously Jiraiya found that pretty amusing because he laughed joyfully. ‘Because that is the essence of the story! Everyone wants to have a bit fun, so why shouldn’t the reader? And maybe this story inspires someone to try out new things, too. I wish I had something like that when I was at school, would’ve made things a lot easier between me and the girls …’

‘You really disgust me!’ Kakashi yelled but couldn’t help cackling, holding his belly that already started to hurt from the intense laughing.

‘I’ll send you the next book when it’s published,’ Jiraiya declared and stood up. ‘Good luck with your boyfriend, Kakashi. I’m pretty sure you’re doing him well. At least he’s smiling a bit more in my classes when he thinks nobody is watching him. See you soon.’

Head-shaking, Kakashi watched his teacher leave, then he decided to get dressed up for the evening. It was already half past six and there was a party scheduled for today to celebrate the finished exams. Indecisively on what to wear, Kakashi stood in front of his wardrobe and thought about what Obito might like to see on him. The black suit with the silver edgings? Or maybe a festively cape? He decided to go with the black suit and was tying his blue and bronze coloured tie when someone knocked on the quarter’s door. Kakashi told them to come in and to his surprise, Rin entered the room. She was wearing a wine-red coloured dress with a simple but still beautiful silver necklace. Curly brown hair was floating over her shoulders that she grew over the school year. Her make-up was subtle, but it highlighted her eyes and lips.

‘Wow, Rin, you look stunning!’

A shy smile appeared on her face and she touched her cheek like she was a little embarrassed by her friend’s words. ‘Thank you, Kakashi. You don’t look bad yourself.’

Kakashi finished his tie and stepped towards Rin, holding his bent arm towards her. His friend hooked herself up and they walked out of the dormitories together. A few fellow Ravenclaws in the common room said they looked amazing and Kakashi immediately felt a bit more relaxed although his heart was racing in anticipation when he was thinking about the evening and Obito.

The Great Hall was decorated festively when the two arrived there. Colourful banners hung from the invisible ceiling and chains of lights were bathing the room into soft orange light. Music was playing from a big gramophone at the teacher’s desk and all tables and benches were set to one side so that there was a big free space in the hall where a few students were already standing around, holding something to drink and chatting with others.

‘Hello, beautiful.’ Someone hugged Rin from behind and Kakashi saw that it was her boyfriend Tokara. His light brown hair was elegantly gelled back and he looked like a real gentleman in his dark blue suit. ‘Hey, Kakashi, you look great,’ he greeted the Ravenclaw after he and Rin shared a quick kiss.

‘Thanks, you too,’ Kakashi replied politely, then they went into the hall towards the other students.

Time seemed to slow down a little when Kakashi spotted Obito who was turning around a few heartbeats later as if he had noticed Kakashi’s presence. The Uchiha wore a black suit with a red tie and he looked gorgeous in it. And his warm smile almost made Kakashi shiver from joy. Desperately stifling the urge to fall around his neck and kiss him immediately, the Ravenclaw stopped in front of him and took his hand.

‘Wow, Kakashi,’ Obito mumbled, eyeing Kakashi from his hair to his feet, ‘you look absolutely amazing.’ With a quick step he approached and whispered into Kakashi’s ear, ‘You look so damn sexy I’d love to be somewhere private with you now.’

Blushing immediately, Kakashi felt a warm wave floating through his stomach, spreading into the rest of his body and making him feel something he couldn’t pin down entirely. But looking at his boyfriend who was biting his lip seductively, still not able to look away from Kakashi, the silver haired boy now also had the desire to be alone with Obito.

The voice of Professor Namikaze interrupted their intense staring at each other and they both winced like they forgot everything around them completely. A bit embarrassed, they turned around to where the headmaster was standing, still holding each other’s hand.

‘Welcome to the Exams-Are-Finally-Over-Party!’ he yelled in excitement and clapped his hands. ‘To those who had their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s today – congratulations on that! I am sure you all did a pretty good job. To the other students who had their end-of-the-year-exams: You deserve a big party now too! Now let’s all celebrate and relax a bit. The dance floor is open to everyone who wants to. And since I’m already talking about that … Professor Konan, would you do me the favour and dance with me?’

The addressed professor giggled when the headmaster took her to the dancefloor. With a quick wave of his wand he changed the slow music to something more upbeating and joyful. Contagioned by the mood swift, in less than five seconds a few couples started to dance and the whole hall was cheering and partying now.

‘Would you like to dance, too?’ Obito asked with a smile. Actually, Kakashi didn’t want to after his disastrous and embarrassing dance after the Quidditch match, but when he saw Obito’s sparkling eyes, he nodded and they stepped into the dancing couples. Before Kakashi knew what was happening, Obito had already laid a hand on his hip, raised their arms and started to dance. Kakashi immediately relaxed because Obito was leading him perfectly. There wasn’t a single insecure step and Kakashi assumed that his boyfriend secretly practised which made him smile.

It was so much fun to dance. There were a lot of different songs playing during the evening. One time the boys jumped up and down only because there was no other way to dance to this loud and cheerful song, another time they were participating in a polonaise Jiraiya had started. But the best moment of this evening was when the music suddenly went calm, romantic and slow. Every dancing couple leant against each other, slightly swaying to the rhythm of the song. Kakashi was resting his head on Obito’s shoulder while they moved very slowly. Feeling all secure and comfortable, Kakashi could’ve continued dancing like this all night long. But the song came to an end and decayed a few heartbeats later. For one moment, the two boys just stood there, not moving anymore, then Kakashi lifted his head to look into a pair of beautiful dark eyes that were full of love. And then Obito bended down to Kakashi to slowly pull his mask down and softly kiss him. A wave of pure luck overwhelmed Kakashi and he felt tears welling up, tears of joy. He had never felt so great and happy in his entire life.

‘I love you,’ he whispered against Obito’s warm lips and felt how they twisted into a smile.

‘I love you, too,’ Obito mumbled and kissed him more passionately now. Both of them didn’t care who was watching them because they only had eyes and thoughts for each other in that moment.

All the way to the Room of Requirement they didn’t let go of each other and stopped a lot of times to just lean against the wall and share a kiss. Kakashi’s heart was light and full of glee when they walked up and down the wall next to where the secret room was hidden. Neither of them told what form they were intending the room transform into, but still a door was appearing and Kakashi guessed that they thought of something similar. And he almost laughed when he saw a familiar room with a big canopy bed in the middle and piles of books around them.

‘Seems like we want the same thing,’ Obito laughed, but the look on his face was a bit tense. Still holding hands, they stopped in front of the bed, not knowing what to do next.

‘You wanted to be alone with me,’ Kakashi teased just to break the tight mood. ‘Now you got what you wanted.’

Obito laughed shyly, then he started to scratch his neck with his free hand. It seemed like he was plucking up courage by straightening his body and looking Kakashi deeply in the eyes when he said, ‘I don’t know about you, Kakashi, but I want more than just kissing and cuddling this evening – if you know what I mean.’

Since Kakashi had also thought about this topic already, he wasn’t surprised that much. But he still looked away and was feeling a bit unwell when he mumbled, ‘I think I do.’

Obito laid his fingers softly under Kakashi’s chin to turn his head towards him again. With nothing but love in his eyes, the Uchiha asked, ‘And do you want me, too?’

The answer was simple, yet Kakashi’s throat was completely dry, not allowing him to speak a single word. Instead, he freed his face from the mask, laid one hand around Obito’s neck to pull him closer with a quick move and started to kiss him passionately. For one moment, his boyfriend hesitated like he wanted to give Kakashi the opportunity to step back, but when he only intensified the kiss, Obito started to loosen the Ravenclaw’s tie. When they opened the buttons of each other’s suits, they interrupted their kiss for a moment just to look at each other before they continued.

‘You’re so beautiful, Kakashi,’ Obito whispered when their jackets and shirts laid on the floor. Then he pushed his boyfriend down onto the bed with a quick shove just to climb above him the moment after. ‘I am very happy to be the only one who gets to see you without your mask.’

Not knowing what to say, Kakashi lifted his head a few inches to kiss Obito again. Their movements got more perky now when they started to caress each other. Obito’s skin was so soft Kakashi wished they would never get dressed again so he could touch him all day long, but he couldn’t think straight anymore shortly afterwards when Obito doffed his own pants off. What followed was an intense new sensation of emotions Kakashi didn’t know he was even able to feel. Whenever he would think back of this night, he would remember the closeness, the heat of their bodies resonating, tingling shivers all over his skin – and he would see Obito’s face, a mirror of his own emotions. Kakashi also would think of that incredibly pleased and happy smile on his face when they laid next to each other, Obito’s fingers softly stroking over Kakashi’s bare hip, drawing little circles on it, still not able to retreat from the Ravenclaw.

The morning sun was already sending rays of light into the room when Kakashi opened his eyes after he fell asleep at some point this night, snuggled against Obito’s warm body next to him. Kakashi felt the constant lifting and lowering of his chest on his back and closed his eyes again, feeling completely safe and comfortable.

‘Morning,’ Obito mumbled about half an hour later into Kakashi’s messy hair and placed a soft kiss on his shoulder. Slowly turning around, Kakashi smiled at him and couldn’t take his eyes off the beautiful boy next to him who was already on the edge of growing into a very good-looking young adult. Obito’s collar bone was shaped so flourishing that Kakashi wanted to kiss it again like he did a lot of times last night. Just by looking at Obito, Kakashi got the urge to touch him everywhere.

‘Good morning,’ Kakashi replied instead, placing a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s lips. ‘Did you sleep well?’

‘Like a baby,’ Obito smiled and sighed contentedly. ‘You look like you slept well, too, although it was a short night because I couldn’t take my eyes off of your god-damn body.’

Indeed, it had been a short one. If Obito had said something lewdly like that to him yesterday, Kakashi would’ve blushed hardly, but after last night he was now just feeling tempted to repeat what they experienced a few hours earlier. So he started to kiss the black haired boy next to him and only one minute later they were tangled up under the blankets until their empty stomachs demanded them to grab some food.


	10. Seen and Unforeseen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while reading:  
> Bravery - Epic Powerful Cinematic Music Mix | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFmmur73mdk

On the last day of school, they got their results for their O.W.L.s. Kakashi was happy that he only failed in Potions where he got a T for Troll. He got his best O.W.L.s in Defence Against the Dark Arts, despite the difficulty, and in History of Magic, both times an O for Outstanding. Obito also got two O-levels, but he had failed in three subjects – Potions, History of Magic and Herbology. Although he put it off and told Kakashi and Rin that it wasn’t a problem for him, Kakashi could still see the little crinkles of anger on his face when he read through his results again.

Kakashi wanted to walk to the Great Hall with Obito for the last meal of the school year after he packed his case, but Obito didn’t appear on their appointed spot in the castle so he wondered where he could possibly be. Ten minutes later his boyfriend still hadn’t shown up and so Kakashi decided to go to the Great Hall on his own. When he let himself sink down next to Rin, she raised her eyebrows.

‘It’s strange not to see you with Obito,’ she stated. ‘Everything fine between you two?’

‘Don’t worry about that. Obito just didn’t show up where we wanted to meet so I decided to come here alone. I am sure he had to help someone with something.’

‘Yeah. That does sound like Obito.’ Kakashi ignored the worried look Rin had on her face despite her friendly words and started to grab some food from the plates. A few minutes later, Gai passed them by and only waved quickly towards them because he was talking to Asuma.

‘I know, right? Don’t know what Uchiha wants down there, but he looked like he was in a hurry …’

As soon as Kakashi heard his boyfriend’s name, he automatically jumped to his feet and yelled towards the two Gryffindors, ‘Where did Obito go?’

Surprised by that, Gai and Asuma turned around to him, then Gai replied, ‘I just saw him walking down towards the Forbidden Forest, but …’

Kakashi nearly bumped into a Ravenclaw that approached to the table and ran out of the Great Hall as fast as he could, not caring that Rin was calling after him or noticing that headmaster Namikaze looked after him with a leery glance.

‘Obito!’ he yelled as soon as he had left the castle’s big entrance doors and dashed down the path towards the grounds near the Forbidden Forest with his heart beating fast and in worry. What was Obito doing there? It was forbidden to go into that forest, but far worse to go there alone if you ignored the first rule already. A lot of different kinds of dangerous creatures where living in that forest and Kakashi didn’t dare to think about what could happen if Obito met one of them.

Halfway down the path Kakashi jumped into the air and transformed while doing it. When he reached the pebbly ground again, he had silver-coloured paws and a tail that was waving behind him when he was approaching the forest now even faster than before.

It got dark as soon as he entered the forest although the sun had not set yet. Every noise was absorbed by the dark thick leaf canopy so onerous silence surrounded Kakashi while he was trying to pick up Obito’s scent. Cold shivers went down his spine and his hackles rose, but nonetheless the Ravenclaw continued running deeper and deeper into the forest.

He had just passed an ominous looking, very big plant that looked like it was using his leaves as tentacles to catch bypassing animals when Kakashi heard voices speaking. Abruptly he came to a halt and pricked up his ears. Yes, that was Obito’s voice! Quickly, he followed the sound, anxiously hiding behind trees to not be seen.

‘I will not do that! You’re crazy!’ Obito shouted angrily when Kakashi stopped behind some bushes and carefully peeped through the leaves. Gesticulating deprecatingly, his boyfriend stood next to a man who had completely black skin, but piercing yellow eyes. Kakashi nearly gasped when he saw that guy because he hadn’t got the slightest idea what he was doing here. The man was Mr Zetsu, the caretaker of Hogwarts with a rare genetic pigment disease, that was why his skin was entirely black. Kakashi really got scared of Mr Zetsu when he met him for the first time because his pupils were so small that you barely could see them, so his yellow iris was so big that Kakashi felt like the caretaker wasn’t even human. Since their first encounter he hadn’t seen him a lot of times and he wondered why Obito met him in this dark and dangerous forest.

‘It’s the only way to activate it,’ Mr Zetsu said to Obito with his croaky voice.

‘I have enough of this now. You told me that you can help me protect other people from my doom, but then you tell me I have to _kill_ someone to do so!’

Now Kakashi couldn’t hold back a little gasp. What was going on here?

‘But think of what that will gain you. What is one sacrificed life compared to all the lives you could save? Think about it.’

‘You’re _insane!’_ Obito screamed, stepping back a few feet, his hands clenched to fists. He looked like he was barely able to hold his emotions under control.

‘Obito, listen to me. I have told you so much about what is going on in the magical world and you know it’s only right to do everything in your power to save all the innocent people that could be killed by Konoha in the near future, maybe even right now.’

‘There must be another way. I will not kill anybody just to see if I really own that power of my family you’re talking about.’

Suddenly, the truth dawned upon Kakashi. All the strange meetings from Obito and the mysterious other guy he witnessed … that had been Mr Zetsu all the time! And it seemed like he wanted Obito to help him with something that involved a murder, which was truly horrible. Still Kakashi didn’t get all of the links of what they were talking about so he continued to listen closely.

‘It’s the only way,’ Mr Zetsu repeated what he said a few moments ago. ‘But you need to kill a human person, it doesn’t work on animals or magical creatures.’

‘And how do you know all of this? You’re not an Uchiha, where do you even got this information from?’

Mr Zetsu made a step towards Obito, then he replied, ‘The leader of our group is a very well-informed and powerful man. If you join Akatsuki, you will meet him and can ask him everything you want to.’

Kakashi had never heard of this name before, but he assumed it was the name of the group Mr Zetsu was talking about.

‘No,’ Obito insisted and shook his head vigorously, ‘not by any chance. I will find a way on my own then to do it. Don’t contact me again.’

With a quick turn, Obito tramped away on the mossy forest ground.

‘Fine. You leave me no choice then.’ Mr Zetsu’s voice suddenly wasn’t high-pitched anymore, instead he sounded frightening. And then Kakashi witnessed him pulling out his wand and waving it towards the big rocks that were scattered around the place. One of them started to float and slowly moved away. When the Ravenclaw finally understood what the man was up to, he jumped out of the bushes with a loud growl and started to run towards the caretaker. But he didn’t get distracted by the approaching wolf and continued with what he was doing. Kakashi fastened his speed even more, but then he was suddenly thrown back by a powerful wave of magic. Something sharp hit his left eye and for a moment he only saw red, followed by an immense pain in his eye hole and he forgot where he was for a moment. But then he hit the ground with a loud crack of his body and wheezed, tasting blood on his tongue.

When he raised his head despite the pain he felt, Obito had already turned around to see what was going on, and in this moment Zetsu let the big rock he was controlling hit Obito from above. With a painful scream, Obito was buried beneath the rock. For a long moment, there was no sound, but then Kakashi heard Mr Zetsu’s loud laughter.

‘Don’t mess with me or my Master, Obito,’ he yelled and suddenly disappeared. Kakashi quickly transformed into his human body, not wasting a single thought on why he was only able to see on his right eye or how Mr Zetsu was able to disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds. When he reached the rock, he saw that Obito got halfway buried beneath it. The tears welled up in Kakashi’s unhurt eye when he saw the blood that was spilled all over the ground and Obito’s visible part of his body.

‘Obito, hey, can you hear me?! Please!’ Kakashi’s voice broke while he sank down to the ground, He felt blood running down his cheek and for a moment he just focused on ripping a part of his robe off to bandage his eye. Then he softly stroked over Obito’s cheek, barely able to hold back the sob in his throat that was nearly choking him.

‘Obito,’ he mumbled, then he sank down on his boyfriend’s chest and started to cry.

 _No, please no, don’t be dead!_ he screamed internally because he wasn’t able to speak a single word through the waves of painful cries that crawled up his throat every second, making his body shake like there was a quake inside him. Suddenly, Obito’s chest moved up and Kakashi raised his upper body.

‘Obito, you’re alive! Thank Merlin!’ Kakashi was so relieved that he started to cry even harder.

‘Stop crying, Bakashi,’ Obito mumbled hoarsely and then coughed. Blood spilled out from his mouth and his breath was rattling. When he opened his eye, it widened for a moment.

‘Kakashi, you’re hurt!’ he said, but his voice broke and he coughed a lot of blood again.

‘Don’t you dare thinking about me now!’ Kakashi demanded harshly. ‘A rock just crushed you! We have to get you out of here and to Madame Chiyo immediately!’

‘No,’ Obito whispered, his eyelids flickering. ‘It’s too late for that …’

‘It’s not!’ All of a sudden, Kakashi’s body was floated with new energy and he jumped to his feet and pulled out his wand.

 _‘Wingardium Leviosa_!’ he yelled and lifted the rock. Since it was a very heavy object, he couldn’t pull it away as fast and wide as he wanted to and let it slump only half an arm-length next to Obito on the ground again. Seeing Obito’s crushed body, Kakashi inhaled sharply but suppressed the urge to vomit and thought of how to get Obito to the castle as quick as possible.

‘Kakashi, stop crying,’ Obito said with a mild smile. ‘There’s not much time left. Come here.’

With his body shaking heavily, Kakashi did as Obito requested and sank down next to him. The Uchiha raised his intact hand and touched Kakashi’s bracelet while he said, ‘Remember me as the tough and cool guy I was, okay?’

Hearing this words, Kakashi couldn’t help but stop crying for a moment. Even while facing death Obito tried to be funny.

‘I will always be with you,’ Obito coughed quietly. ‘And I will always love you.’ He slowly laid his hand on Kakashi’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss tasting of salty tears and heartbreak. A heavy shiver caught Kakashi and he felt like he was falling into a deep black hole like he did ten years ago when he saw his father laying on the wooden floor in their house, dead.

No.

He couldn’t let that happen again to someone he loved.

Kakashi intertwined the fingers of their hands while he was still kissing Obito, not being able to let go of him yet although he felt that his boyfriend’s breath was getting slower. The Ravenclaw felt the soft fabric of Obito’s bracelet on his own skin while he was desperately trying to come up with a plan on how to save him. All at once, Kakashi felt like a shuddering of Obito’s body beneath him and he backed off, his heart skipping a beat because he thought that now it was all over. He couldn’t believe what he was witnessing in that moment, but Obito’s body was slightly glowing for a moment before he opened his eyes and –

‘Obito! Your eye … it’s …’

‘Yeah, I can already feel that something is different,’ Obito mumbled, still with a trembling voice. ‘What is it?’

Kakashi’s throat was completely dry, but he still somehow managed to croak, ‘Your eye … it’s glowing and it is also completely red.’

‘That must be the secret power of the Uchiha Mr Zetsu mentioned,’ the hurt boy coughed. ‘Listen, Kakashi – please make sure my gift to you isn’t wasted.’

Paralysed by shock, Kakashi observed Obito grabbing his glowing red eye with his hand. Kakashi quickly closed his eye so he did not have to see what Obito was doing while he was screaming in pain. About five heartbeats later, Kakashi felt the bandage over his empty eyehole lifted and heard Obito mumbling, _‘Proteus.’_

With a painful twinge, Kakashi felt Obito’s eye connecting to his nerves and he nearly fainted but pinched himself so he didn’t black out. When he opened both of his eyes again, everything was red and blurry and he was nearly vomiting again because everything was spinning and he nearly fell over.

A sudden gust of wind was hitting Kakashi’s skin and he blinked a few times to get a clear view. But all he saw was a dark silhouette that was approaching quickly.

‘You’re still alive!’ the Ravenclaw heard a familiar voice screaming furiously. Mr Zetsu was back!

Kakashi stood up, stumbling back a few steps before he slumped back to the ground. His balance was completely upside down and he already saw sparkles again like he was about to faint. Helpless and trying not to give in, Kakashi watched Obito raising the hand with his wand again and coughing, _‘Obliviate!’_ Mr Zetsu froze in his movement and a dark shadow veiled his eyes.

‘Kakashi, quickly! Hide and don’t let Akatsuki get you, do you hear me? I love you. Now go!’ Obito’s voice was solid and loud for a moment, and Kakashi looked at his boyfriend for one last time before he jumped to his feet - this time without seeing sparkles -, turned around and ran away, unsteady on his feet, but still following Obito’s last wish while painful bloody and salty tears were streaming down his face.


	11. The Parting of the Ways

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while reading:  
> Tony Anderson | Resurrect | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n72L-qJZ1_k

Kakashi couldn’t tell how he got inside the castle again. The next thing he realised after he ran away from the dangerous scenery in the forest was that he was standing at the door of the Great Hall, crying in pain, and that Headmaster Namikaze laid an arm around him and pulled him away from the curious looks of the other students.

‘Kakashi, you’re hurt! Dear Merlin, what happened to you?’ Sounding truly worried, the headmaster lifted Kakashi’s chin so the boy had to look him straight in the face.

‘Obito … help him …’ were the only words that came out of Kakashi’s mouth before he felt black darkness overwhelming him.

With a painful hammering headache Kakashi opened his eyes to see that he was laying in one of the beds in the Hospital Wing. Rin and Headmaster Namikaze were sitting next to him on some chairs and both looked up when they noticed that Kakashi was awake.

‘Kakashi, can you hear me?’ Rin laid a hand on his arm and Kakashi could see tears sparkling in her eyes. He tried to smile but it was incredibly painful to move his body even for this small gesture. Every inch of it was hurting.

‘Tell us what happened!’ the headmaster requested with a demanding voice, his blue eyes widened in concern.

‘The boy is still weak, let him rest!’ Madame Chiyo reproached him, coming closer to them now while holding a glass with purple liquid in it. ‘Drink this. You will gain back some energy and then you will fall asleep quickly.’ She handed it to Kakashi who drank it without resistance and immediately felt energy returning to his body. When he tried to speak, it wasn’t as painful as the smile and so he started to tell what happened. The only thing he left out was the last gift he received of Obito that was hidden underneath a bandage.

‘So you’re saying Obito is dead?!’ Rin’s voice was screechy and broke while she was speaking, then she pressed his hands against her mouth and tears were starting to stream down her face.

‘That can’t be true … I have to go. See you later, Kakashi.’ With a quick wave of his hand, the headmaster jumped to his feet and rushed out of the Hospital Wing. Kakashi could only hope that he was going into the Forbidden Forest to look what happened. Then the boy felt incredibly tired again. Suddenly his body felt numb and he felt his consciousness fading. Madame Chiyo’s medicine was finally operating.

‘Rin …’ His own voice was nothing more than a whisper, but his friend looked at him with determination although she was still crying. The young woman looked incredibly strong and Kakashi wished he had her fortitude.

‘I’m here, Kakashi, and I will stay at your side, don’t worry. You’re safe. Now sleep!’

She didn’t have to tell him twice.

And so Kakashi sank down into the thick black darkness again that welcomed him with open arms and numbed out the still immense pain of his boyfriend’s loss. Before he closed his eyes, he inaudibly mumbled a last word, a name that was engraved in his heart forever.

‘Obito …’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone. Thank you for taking Kakashi's journey with me to this point.  
> This was the final chapter of the first part of my fanfiction. I will upload the second part as soon as possible. Please make sure to stay tuned if you're interested in how the story will continue. You can subscribe to the series to not miss a chapter of the following stories: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050221
> 
> I'd really love to hear your opinion and thoughts on the story so far. Please leave a comment if you'd like to share something with me :)
> 
> See you soon!


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